Land Before Time: Secret of Saurus Rock Retold
by Elise Lowing
Summary: The Gang is back once again. Join Littlefoot, Aylene, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike as they embark on their next adventure. Joined by Aylene's grandmother, Elaine, they soon encounter a friend from her past. Shortly after, unusual disasters start ravaging the Valley. Wanting to know the cause, the Gang travels to an ancient landmark that is rumored to be enchanted: Saurus Rock.
1. Prologue

**The Land Before Time: Secret of Saurus Rock Retold**

 **Prologue**

 **The Gang is back once again. Join Littlefoot, Aylene, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike as they embark on their next adventure. Joined by Aylene's grandmother, Elaine, they soon encounter a friend from her past. Eager to learn more about the past, the Gang travels to an ancient landmark that is rumored to be enchanted: Saurus Rock.**

* * *

 _Many years ago…_

The sun began to set behind the horizon of a rocky and deserted plain. The heat of the day was still very scorching, but a strong wind coming from the east help ease the pain of the heat.

Beside the edge of a wide river were two creatures. One was very large. So large that it would be very hard to miss, even from a great distance away. It was an adult male Diplodocus dinosaur, with skin as grey as a thundercloud. His neck was long and limber, his shoulders broad and lean. His eyes were as high as the morning sky, and his vision was keen.

Beside him was a much smaller creature. Standing next to him, the creature looked no bigger than a kitten beside a Great Dane.

It was a young human woman, roughly in her early twenties. She had fair skin that was slightly tanned from the rays of the sun. She wore a grey t-shirt that had the sleeves torn off, sand-colored shorts, and hiking boots. Her hair was as brown as the healthiest tree bark, and her eyes as blue as the sparkling sea.

Around her neck on a thin brass neck chain was a shining green stone. It was as green as the purest emerald jewel in the world.

At the moment, the Diplodocus had his head down to her level. The young woman was slowly removing a large bandage that was covering his right eye and little ways down his neck.

"Does it feel better?" the woman asked.

"I'm fine, Elaine," the long-necked dinosaur replied, his voice low and gravelly. "You worry too much."

"Well, I feel like I have the right to, Doc." Elaine said. "You're so reckless. We're just lucky that Sharptooth just barely missed your eye."

Elaine removed the last of the bandages. She exhaled deeply and frowned when she saw that nasty scar running centimeters above her friend's eye and down his neck. Doc slowly opened his right eye and blinked a few times to clear up its fuzzy vision. He then raised his neck a little so that he was towering over his human friend just a little bit.

Elaine knelt down to a backpack beside her and opened it. She rolled up the bandages and stuffed them back inside before closing the bag again.

"Not that our fight with Sharptooth matters anyway." Doc said with dissatisfaction. "He survived the fall."

"I know." Elaine sighed heavily. "It's like he's invincible. As far as I know, you and I are the only ones who had been able to land so much as a scratch on him. How can one T-Rex be so strong?"

"Just be glad we got out of there with our lives." Doc reminded. "Most of the ones who decided to challenge that monster didn't walk away alive."

"Still," Elaine looked down guiltily, "we didn't exactly get out of it unscathed, especially you."

"Don't worry about me," the Diplodocus said, looking at Elaine with a kind of sternness in his eyes. "He didn't blind me. He just scratched me. And I can live with this scar."

"Sure, whatever you say." Elaine's voice was low.

"Now enough of that. We have to come up with another plan to defeat that monster once and for all."

Elaine turned and looked at Doc. That's when she became concerned. There was something the face of her friend that made her uneasy.

She had been around Doc long enough to know that he rarely expressed any emotions. Most of the time, he just had this stoic look that made him come across as distant and mysterious. It was only those who knew him really well that knew when he was feeling a certain way.

But this time, Doc had a clear expression on his face. While it might have appeared to a low key expression to others, Elaine knew what that expression meant.

Doc was getting angry. Worse than that, he looked as if he wanted revenge.

"Doc," Elaine quickly spoke up, "don't become obsessed with this. I know you have a thing against predators, and especially Sharptooth. But don't let that get in the way of thinking clearly."

"Elaine," Doc replied sharply, "you know just as well as I do that Sharptooth needs to be stopped."

"Yes, I know. But I also know that look on your face. You only get that way when you hear stories of predators attacking herbivores. And it's regardless of whether it's Sharptooth or not."

Doc looked away with a subtle look of distain.

"If you ask me, if we lived in a perfect world, there wouldn't be any predators," he muttered. "This place would be much better without them. All they do is hunt and destroy. And they tear families apart. Nothing good can come from them."

"Doc, now your just being bigoted." Elaine rebuked.

This made Doc turn his head back to look at her. She was now standing up tall and had her hands on her hips. She narrowed her eyes and stared straight into his with a stern expression. Despite Elaine being much smaller than him, she had this passionate fire in her that expressed how strongly she believed in her beliefs. At times, it kind of made her scary.

"Did you forget that it was a predator that told us where to find Sharptooth?" Elaine went on. "If it wasn't for him, we would've been too late to save the Great Valley. Sharptooth might be part of a group of predators that hunt and kill for pleasure, but not all predators in this world are like that. And I'm sure you can admit that there are also bad apples among the herbivore dinosaurs. Nearly everywhere we go, we see them discriminate against one another just because of their species. Did you forget that time at the oasis with those domeheads and duckbills?"

"Okay, I get it, Elaine." Doc said dully, his ire dying down a bit. "I'm sorry. I just want this to be over with."

Elaine took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

"And I do too," she admitted. "But I don't want it to become an obsession. We've seen what happens to those who let their anger and frustration take hold of them. Sharptooth being the prime example. That and his pride. And if we follow that example, then we're no better than him."

Doc just fell silent. That was enough to tell Elaine that he knew that she had a point. He didn't respond to her because his pride had been dented, but because he knew he didn't have to say anything.

Doc and Elaine's friendship was so close that they could just tell what the other was thinking. They had been together for such a long time that they trusted each other with their lives. They loved each other like brother and sister. They never had to say it, they both knew it was true.

And it was because of this that they didn't have to dwell on their problems and differences of opinion.

"Alright," Doc finally said, "but we should at least plan ahead for our next battle. As it stands, we're the only ones who have a prayer of defeating Sharptooth."

Elaine nodded.

She and Doc talked about their strategy for their next fight. They thought back to their last battle, trying to remember most of what had happened, and what had worked the best, as well as what could help improve their chances of winning. After a while, they decided that they would try to lure Sharptooth the edge of a pond full of deep water. While Elaine would be on defense and shoot at Sharptooth with her archery arrows to distract him, Doc would come in with the finishing blow and knock the T-Rex into the water. Whether Sharptooth would be conscious or not, if he was stunned with the right amount of force, he just might not be able to recover in time to save himself from drowning.

As the two discussed their plan, the sun slowly drifted down behind the edge of the horizon. Before the two realized it, the sky had turned dark blue and the stars began to sparkle in the sky. The only thing that lit up the barren landscape was the full moon shining brightly in the heavens.

It was only after they had settled on their plan of attack that Doc and Elaine realized just how late it had become.

"It's dark." Elaine pointed out. She also looked inside her backpack. "I'm running low on provisions."

The human closed her bag and touched the shining stone around her neck. Doc knew what that gesture meant.

"Doc," Elaine said to her friend, "I really hate to do this, especially at such a critical time, but…"

"You don't have to apologize." Doc shook his head. "I understand. Besides, I'd rather you go back and get what you need than lose what you have at the worst time. Don't worry, I'll wait here until you come back."

"Thanks, Doc." Elaine replied graciously. "I promise I'll be back as soon as I can."

Elaine gathered up her backpack, quiver full of arrows, and archery bow. Once she had all that stuff on, she looked down at her stone. She was about to say a command and open a portal, when a thought came to her mind.

"Hey, Doc," she said softly. "I know this is random, but I am really glad I met you."

Doc blinked in confusion. That was kind of a random thing to say.

"Sorry," Elaine smiled self-consciously, "I guess I just felt like saying it. It's just…I'm glad I discovered this world and you. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Doc stayed silent for a moment. Finally, he nodded and gave one of his rare smiles.

"Same here," he said. "The trail of life has led me down many paths, and I'm glad that it intersected with yours, my friend."

Elaine felt a warm glow inside her with those words. Oh, how lucky she was to get to be part of this world. To meet so many amazing creatures and to have so many adventures. She wanted it to be this way forever.

With that, Elaine turned away and cleared her mind.

"Portal Open," she commanded in a clear voice.

Instantly, a beam of light shot from the stone around her neck and stuck an invisible wall. The light expanded out into a large circle that grew until it was as tall as Elaine herself. The young woman then walked through it, waving to her dinosaur friend as she passed into the world of humans. She saw Doc acknowledge her wave before the portal closed like nothing had happened.

As soon as the portal closed, Doc heard a strange sound coming from the sky. It sounded like the crackling of fire.

Was it another meteorite falling towards earth?

Doc looked up into the sky do see the meteorite, but he saw something else. Up in the sky, falling closer and closer to earth, was a giant stone that seemed to be glowing icy blue. He had to squint as its light seemed to burn his eyes. It sailed high above him as it traveled on its course. He couldn't take his eyes off of it, no matter how much it hurt them. He stared at it with wonder and curiosity. He continued to watch it until it disappeared beyond the horizon. The only thing he could see that indicated that it landed on earth was a distant burst of light that lasted for a second or two before disappearing again.

"What was that?" he asked himself.

* * *

A week had passed for Elaine, and her Time Stone refused to shine again. She waited and waited, but it didn't shine. One week turned into two weeks. Two weeks turned into a month. More than once, Elaine tried to get a portal to open despite the lack of illumination. But it didn't work.

Nothing was working.

A horrible feeling began to grow in Elaine.

On one last desperate attempted, she drove out to the woods some miles away from the town she was living in. She gathered up all her equipment and headed into the forest. Once she was a good way in, she stopped and clutched the Time Stone around her neck.

"Please, please work," she pleaded in a whisper.

Taking a deep breath, Elaine cleared her mind and focused on only one thing.

"Portal Open!" she commanded in the strongest voice she had ever given.

Still nothing.

Nothing happened.

Elaine tried again and again, but the result was the same. The Time Stone didn't open a portal for her.

Elaine had already running low on faith before this moment, and now that faith was gone completely. She didn't know why, but the Time Stone wasn't responding to her anymore. It wasn't letting her go back to her special world.

Elaine's hands clasped around her stone and began to tremble with painful sadness. Hot tears welled up in her eyes and began to stream down her face as she brought the stone up to her bottom lip. She clutched it with what little strength she had left as reality finally sunk in. And it sunk her heart like a stone.

She was never going back to her special world. She was never going back to the Land Before Time.

She was never going to see her best friend again. Doc was now a whole world away, and she didn't even get the chance to say good-bye.

"I'm sorry, Doc!" Elaine cried, her heart breaking with each falling tear. "I'm so sorry."

Elaine then fell to her knees and shed bitter tears.

* * *

 _Present day…_

"Elaine?"

Elaine lifted her gaze. Across the table from her was her husband, Richard.

"Are you alright?" Richard asked. "You looked lost in thought."

"Oh, I'm fine, Richard." Elaine smiled softly. "I was just thinking about the past, that's all."

"I see," the man said in a low voice. "Was it something bad?"

"No, not really." Elaine shook her head. "Just bittersweet I guess. But I'm fine, really."

Richard shrugged and went back to eating his dinner. Elaine followed his lead and did the same thing.

It had been forty-five years. Forty-five years since she had set foot in that wonderful world beyond hers. In those forty-five years, she had met Richard and married him. The two had a daughter, who was now all grown up and had a family of her own. And now, Elaine also had two wonderful grandchildren.

And one of those grandchildren, the youngest in her family, now carried the Time Stone. Elaine's granddaughter, Aylene, was exploring the wonders of the Land Before Time. She was crossing between the worlds, having adventures, and finding herself in a world beyond this one.

And it wasn't just her now. Her older brother, Derek, was also joining her on her adventures. Like Aylene, he seemed to have grown up ever since he began going to that other world. He was becoming more of a man every day.

As happy as Elaine was for Aylene to experience the happiness and joy she had felt when in that world, and as proud as she was to see Aylene grow into the person she was meant to be because of that world, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy as well. It wasn't Aylene's fault by any means, but Elaine wanted back what her granddaughter now had.

Even if it was one last time, she wanted to return to that world. Just to have one last adventure. Just to see her best friend one last time and tell him how sorry she was, and to say good-bye to his face.

She wanted that. Even if it was one last time, she would treasure every moment.


	2. Chapter 1: Return to the Valley

**Return to the Valley**

 _Two Days Later…_

On a nice sunny Thursday in March, Aylene and Ken were enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate at a local coffee shop. The lighting of the place was very warm and rustic. The smell of coffee hung in the air and seemed to leak into every piece of furniture in the room. There was a very faint sound of piano music that was being played on a stereo player behind the counter.

Aylene and Ken were both at a table in a corner of the shop, sitting across from each other. Ken was dressed in a black T-shirt with a grey sweater over it. He also had on a pair jeans and grey sneakers. Around his neck was a blue stone on a metal neck chain.

Aylene was wearing a blue T-shirt with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath it, a pair of blue jeans, and dark green tennis shoes. Around her neck was a stone that was almost like Ken's, only hers was green.

The backpacks down at their feet were proof enough that the two had just gotten out of school.

Since the coffee shop was full of people, and all of them were exchanging conversations with each other, it was quite easy to have a conversation about something secret. Which was exactly what Aylene and Ken were having at the moment.

"So the Great Valley's green again?" Ken asked after taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Yeah," Aylene nodded, "the herd just got back two days ago."

"Well, that's good. How are the others holding up?"

"You mean Littlefoot and the others?" Aylene questioned. "They're fine. Much better now that we've made it back to the Valley. Although, along the way, we met up with a small herd of Triceratops. They got two little youngsters that seemed to have taken a liking to Cera, much to her annoyance."

"Heh, I bet." Ken snickered. "You know their names?"

"I think it's Dina and Dana." Aylene answered. "Anyway, their herd is staying in the Valley for a while, and they asked if Cera could watch out for the twins. Poor Cera. Those twins follow her around and call her "Auntie Cera". They got so much energy though. Honestly, I'm starting to feel a little sorry for Cera now."

"Ah, she's a tough three-horn." Ken said nonchalantly. "She can handle it."

"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, how's Ali doing?"

"She's okay." Ken replied. "We're still migrating around as usual. Although now I'm really starting to consider making a map. It's so easy to lose track of where you are in that world."

"Tell me about it." Aylene groaned. "Too bad neither of us are cartographers."

"Yeah, you really have to go by memory in that world." Ken stated, swirling his drink around a bit. "My grandpa was going to make a map during one of his visits, but unfortunately, his Time Stone stopped working and he couldn't go back for some reason."

Aylene cast her gaze downward and stared sadly at the cup in her hand.

"Yeah, same with my grandma," she murmured. "I think I told you before that she and her dinosaur friend were planning to defeat Sharptooth for good, but for some reason, she couldn't return."

There was a small pause between the two friends. Then, Ken made a kind of thoughtful moan and brought a hand to his chin. Aylene looked up at him and saw he had a very pensive look on his face.

"What's wrong, Ken?" she asked.

"I was just thinking." Ken answered. "Given from what you've told me; it seems that both our Time Stones stopped working at the same time. And they skipped a whole generation with our parents."

"Yeah, so?"

"Think about it, why would that happen?" Ken questioned.

"Well, Grandma told me that she thinks it's because of age." Aylene explained. "Like, the Stone didn't except her because she was too old or something."

"Hmm, sounds like a good idea in theory," Ken said slowly, "but unless I'm mistaken, my grandfather's older than your grandmother. Yet he was still able to use it until it stopped working. If age really was the issue, then he would've stopped going a long time ago. Based on that, I don't think the Time Stones are selective about someone based on age. From what I've experience, it's just an object that reacts to the will of its holder."

Aylene paused. She then brought her hand up to the green stone around her neck and curled her fingers around it.

"You think something else prevented the Stone from working?" she said.

"Possibly." Ken shrugged. "I mean, there's so much about it that we don't know."

"But if that's the case then…"

Aylene's voice trailed off and a hopeful thought jumped into her mind.

"Ken, do you think my grandma could still return to the Land Before Time?"

Ken blinked at that question. He saw the expression on Aylene's face, and immediately knew that she was hoping for a good answer.

"Well, I guess so," he said slowly. "But you'd have to try it out."

"Okay, then." Aylene grinned. "But if that's going to happen, then I gotta call my grandma. She and Grandpa are coming for the weekend. I gotta make sure she comes with everything she needs."

* * *

 _Friday Afternoon…_

Aylene and her older brother, Derek, walked home together after school. As they approached their house, they saw their grandparent's car parked in their driveway. The two siblings entered their house and quickly saw their grandmother, who was sitting on the couch reading a book. The moment Elaine saw her grandchildren, she put the book down and got up to hug them.

"Hey, Grandma." Derek smiled as he and Elaine shared an embrace.

"Oh, it's great to see you Derek." Elaine said.

She then let Derek go and Aylene came crashing into her arms.

"Grandma!" Aylene exclaimed with delight. "Did you get my message?!"

"Yes, I did." Elaine answered. "But I still don't quite understand why wanted me to bring my archery equipment."

Aylene let Elaine go and took off her backpack, setting it on the couch.

"That's the surprise," she smiled. "But first, are Mom and Dad in the house?"

"No, they went with Richard to get some groceries." Elaine explained. "Why do you ask?"

"Because we're going to take a trip." Aylene replied, her smile getting bigger. "We're taking you back to the Land Before Time."

"W-What?!" Elaine stuttered. Her eyes widened with surprise.

"Yeah, it was Aylene's idea." Derek said. "The two of us were going to go back soon anyway, so we thought you should come along for the ride."

"Please, Grandma." Aylene pleaded. "I want you to meet my friends. We can show you the Valley and everything. C'mon, it'll be fun."

"I…I…" Elaine hesitated. She wasn't expecting this at all.

Suddenly, a horrible feeling snuck into her thoughts. Ever since the Time Stone stopped working for her, she had convinced herself that she was never going to go back to that special world. It hurt enough just to know that, but she didn't know if she could handle the pain of trying and to only end up failing in the attempt.

"C'mon, Grandma." Derek encouraged. "Let's just give it a try. It might just work."

Elaine took a deep breath and swallowed hard. Finally, she released her breath and nodded.

"Okay, I'll go with you. I just hope it works."

"Great!" Aylene cheered, clapping her hands. "Now let's get ready to go!"

With that, the three split up and headed to their rooms to change. Aylene closed the door to her room and eagerly changed into a green sleeveless shirt, a pair black gym shorts, and navy blue hiking sandals. She also tied her auburn hair in a side ponytail and let it hang over her right shoulder. Once she was dressed, she pulled out her archery equipment out from under bed. She strapped her quiver around her waist and put her bow over her shoulder. She then collected her blue backpack and headed out to fill it with essentials like a beach towel, some bandages and medicine, bottles of water, and a few food spices.

Around the time she had finished packing her bag, Derek and Elaine were also ready to head out. In a few seconds, they all met up in Aylene's room.

Derek was dressed in a dark red sleeveless, black gym shorts, and dark grey hiking sandals. His large archery bow was slung over his left shoulder, and a quiver of arrows was strapped around his waist. Around his wrists was a pair of black sweatbands, and on his back was a dusky-colored backpack.

Elaine was in a grey t-shirt that had the sleeves torn off, sand-colored shorts, and hiking boots. She had her archery bow slung over her left shoulder as well as a quiver of arrows tied around her waist. On her back was a dark blue backpack.

It had been so long since Elaine had dressed in this fashion. The last time she dressed like this was when she tried to open a portal to her special world. Ever since then, she hadn't really put this outfit on. At the same time, she couldn't bring herself to part with it. Even if she didn't wear it, she seemed to bring it with her whenever she went on a long trip. It just had a sentimental value she couldn't get rid of.

And for being over forty-five years old, it was still in good condition.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Aylene asked.

"Yep." Derek winked.

"I'm ready." Elaine said, sounding just a little nervous.

"Then let's go."

After closing the door to her room, Aylene walked to the center and took a deep breath to clear her mind.

 **"Portal Open!"** she commanded.

Instantly, the Time Stone around her neck created a portal right in front of her, Derek, and Elaine.

Aylene then reached out and took Derek and Elaine's hands in each of hers. The moment of truth was here. Would Elaine pass through the portal with Aylene and Derek or not? There was only way to find out.

Aylene took the lead and walked forward, pulling the other two behind her. As Elaine got closer to the portal, she closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for something to happen. A second later, she felt a light breeze suddenly sweep around her, and her feet hit solid earth and grass. Warm rays of light shone down on her, and a familiar smell of wildflowers and fresh air reached her nose.

Elaine slowly opened her eyes. What she saw made her almost forget to breathe.

All around her was a familiar sight.

The Great Valley. She was really in the Great Valley.

She turned around quickly and watched as the portal behind her slowly shrunk before disappearing altogether. It didn't keep her behind the barrier after all. It let her pass through.

"See?" Aylene smiled happily. "I told you it would work. Welcome back to the Great Valley, Grandma!"

Elaine stared where she was, her mouth opened. Her heart fluttered inside her chest, and a wonderful feeling spread throughout her body.

Everywhere she looked, she saw the Great Valley in all it's splendor, just like she had all those years before. She was really here. She was really standing in the middle of a grassy field, breathing this world's fresh air, hearing the sounds of water rushing down waterfalls and into the rivers below, and feeling the rays of the sun shining down on her and the light embrace of the wind.

She was back.

She was back in her special world. After forty-five years, she was finally back.

Elaine couldn't prevent a warm smile from spreading across her face. Tears of joy began to fill her eyes, and she brought a hand up to wipe them away.

"You okay, Grandma?" Derek asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Elaine said softly. "Sorry, it's just a lot to take in right now."

"Hey, Aylene!"

Aylene perked up when she heard the sound of a young boy's voice call her name. She turned around quickly and smiled brightly when she saw a young brown Apatosaurus come running over the hill towards her.

"Hey, Littlefoot!" Aylene laughed and waved.

In a few seconds, Littlefoot met up with Aylene's group.

"Aylene, Derek!" he greeted. "It's great to see you again!"

"Great to see you too, Littlefoot." Derek grinned. "Where are the others?"

"I was on my way to their places." Littlefoot explained. "Grandpa is going to tell us stories tonight, and I wanted to ask if they wanted come and listen."

"Oh, that sounds awesome." Aylene said. "Let's go find the others. But first, I have someone I want you to meet."

Aylene then turned around, and it was only now that Littlefoot realized that there was another human behind her. He blinked and stared in surprise. He wasn't expecting to meet another human today. As Littlefoot looked at the new human, he cocked his head slightly when he noticed that she looked a lot like Aylene. The biggest difference, of course, was that this human showed to be significantly older than Aylene. The scatter of grey stands in her hair, along with a few wrinkles in her face, were enough to tell the young Apatosaurus what her age roughly was.

But even with those details, she still kind of looked like Aylene in many ways.

"Littlefoot," Aylene said, "meet my grandma. This is Elaine."

Elaine gracefully stepped forward.

"Grandma, this is my best friend, Littlefoot." Aylene finished.

"It's nice to meet you, Littlefoot." Elaine said, giving a small bow. "Aylene has told me all about you and your adventures."

"It's great to meet you." Littlefoot said, excited on meeting a new face. "Aylene's told me about you, too. Are you here for a visit?"

"You could say that." Elaine answered. "Aylene and Derek invited me. I couldn't really say no."

"Well it's great to have you here." Littlefoot replied. "Hey, you wanna come hear my grandpa tell us stories tonight? I think you'd like it."

"Well, I'd be honored." Elaine smiled. "It's been a long time since I've heard any stories from this world."

"Great," the young long-neck said joyfully. "C'mon, let's go find the others. I bet they'd like to meet you, Elaine."

"You guys go on ahead." Aylene said. "I need to get my sword. I'll meet up with you is a bit."

"Sure thing, Sis," Derek gave a playful salute. "Just don't take too long, okay?"

Aylene gave a sarcastic sneer. She knew Derek was only joking.

While Littlefoot, Derek, and Elaine headed in one direction, Aylene ran down an opposite path. About five minutes later, she came upon a clump of bushes on the outskirts of a dense forest. Aylene got down on her knees and pushed back the bramble. Lying on the ground underneath the bushes was a sword inside a scabbard. There was no mistaking that hilt with the T-Rex tooth on the end of the pommel.

It was her sword; Fierce Loyalty. The sword she had gotten and named on the Mysterious Island.

Aylene took the sword out from its hiding place and strapped it around her waist, the sheath resting on her left hip.

Now that she had the sword on, she felt like her ensemble was complete.

She grabbed the hilt with her right hand and drew the blade. It slid out of the scabbard with ease, and the blade glistened as the rays of the sunlight made contact with it. Aylene then held the sword out to admire the uniqueness that it possessed. The blade shined with an olive green meteorite stone, and cast her reflection right back at her.

"I can't wait to show Grandma this," she said to herself. "She's going to love it."

Aylene then put the sword away and set out to find her friends and family. The whole time she ran through the Great Valley, she couldn't wipe that smile off her face. She was just too excited for everything.

Her grandmother was in this world with her, she was meeting her friends, and she was going to have another adventure here. At that moment, Aylene couldn't think of anything better.

She couldn't wait for the next adventure. She had no doubt it was just around the corner. She didn't know what it was, or where it would lead her and her friends, but in her current state, she didn't care.

She was ready for an adventure. And this world was full of them. She just didn't know which one would be coming her way this time.


	3. Chapter 2: The Beginning of the Legend

**The Beginning of the Legend**

 _Later that night…_

As the full moon came out from behind the thin clouds, and stars began to twinkle, the Gang, along with Derek and Elaine, all met up by a large boulder that was about the size of a full-grown Stegosaurus. By now, Elaine had been introduced to the rest of Aylene's dinosaur friends: Cera the Triceratops, Ducky the Saruolophus, Petrie the Pteranodon, and Spike the Stegosaurus. All of them were excited to meet Aylene and Derek's grandmother, and Elaine was just as excited to meet all of them.

Since Grandpa Longneck hadn't shown up yet, humans worked together set up a large fire pit as the dinosaur children gathered up as much wood as they could find. When they brought enough twigs and logs, they gave them to the three humans and watched as the trio arranged the wood. Once it was all set, Derek grabbed two stones and began to strike them against each other, creating sparks as did.

Eventually, those sparks hit the wood and began to spread. In just a few minutes, a large fire was blazing and giving off warm waves of heat.

As they waited for Grandpa Longneck, Aylene took the chance to show Elaine her sword. She took it out of it's sheath and handed it to her grandmother to let her examine it.

"Well, I must that this is really impressive." Elaine said, looking over the blade. "I never would've guessed that weapons like this even existed. And it's so light. If you hadn't told me about it before, I probably would've said that it wouldn't hold up in battle."

"I know," Aylene grinned, "but it's super strong. Nothing can break it. And the edges are still sharp."

"Not only that," Derek interjected, "but it's got wicked awesome powers. It can create force fields."

"Then I say that this was definitely a keeper." Elaine nodded, handing the sword back to Aylene. "This might serve you well in the future. That is if you learn how to use it properly."

"Well, I have been teaching myself how to use it for a while now." Aylene explained as she put her sword back in its sheath. "Of course, I've never had proper training, but hey, as long as I can defend myself, that's all that matters, right?"

"I guess so." Elaine shrugged.

"Besides," Derek said sarcastically, "I bet the most you're going to fight are predators. And I don't think they are going to learn how to use weapons like that."

"Yeah, good point." Aylene replied.

Just then, the ground below them began to tremble a little. The tremors came in intervals, giving everyone the sign that they were from the footfalls from a large creature.

Everyone turned in the direction where the small quakes were coming from. Under the glow of the full moon, an enormous long-necked dinosaur came lumbering towards them.

"Grandpa!" Littlefoot exclaimed happily.

Sure enough, it was Littlefoot's grandfather. The elder Apatosaurus soon came into red glow of the campfire, and looked down at his grandson with a smile.

"I'm here, Littlefoot," he said in his deep, wise voice.

He looked over the group assembled before him.

"I'm glad to see that all your friends could make it."

"Heh," Cera sighed heavily, "anything to get me away from those crazy twins. I just hope they haven't tracked me down."

"It's pretty late," Aylene pointed out, "they probably won't be up anyway."

"I really hope your right, Aylene." Cera groaned, slumping to the ground with exhaustion.

Grandpa Longneck's eyes then stopped on Elaine, and he blinked in surprise.

"I don't think I've seen you before," he said. "Who might you be."

"Oh, this our grandma, Elaine." Derek introduced. "She used to come to this world when she was younger. Grandma, this is Grandpa Longneck."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Grandpa Longneck." Elaine bowed her head slightly. "Aylene and Derek have told me so much about you and your wife."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Elaine." Grandpa Longneck replied in the same fashion. "I've heard many stories about you from your grandchildren. Are you visiting the Valley?"

"You could say that." Elaine answered.

"Well, then," the elder long-neck smiled, "you came at a good time. Would you care to join us for the story telling?"

"I'd be honored." Elaine said graciously. "Thank you."

"Yeah, tell us a story, Grandpa!" Littlefoot pleaded.

"Yeah, tell us a story!" Petrie chimed in.

"Alright, children, settle down." Grandpa Longneck chuckled. "I got just the perfect story for tonight."

Eager to hear what story the elder long-neck had to tell, everyone took a seat. Littlefoot, Cera, and Spike all laid down, Ducky sat on the end beside Cera, Aylene sat cross-legged between Littlefoot and Cera, Elaine and Derek sat side-by-side on a fallen tree log, and Petrie perched himself on Spike's back.

Once everyone had gotten comfortable and quieted down, Grandpa Longneck cleared his throat.

Then, he spoke, slowly and mysteriously.

"Since the very beginning of our world, there have been wonderful stories about how life began. There are tales of how the sun gave birth to stars of the night sky, which watch over us as we sleep. And many ways of explaining how our world itself was formed. And how the first strange, incredible creatures came to walk upon the land."

Everyone leaned in closer, completely enthralled by the opening. With an introduction like that, they could tell they were in for a great story.

Littlefoot in particular have become excited.

"Which of the stories are really true, Grandpa?" he asked compulsively.

Grandpa couldn't help but laugh at his grandson's curiosity.

"No one knows, Littlefoot," he said. "That is one of the great mysteries of life."

"Yeah, but…"

"Shhh! Littlefoot!" Cera snapped irritably.

Littlefoot blinked in surprise and turned to look at the three-horn.

"Please! Do not interrupt!" Ducky pleaded innocently.

"Yeah," Petrie frowned. "Petrie not like it when you erupt neither."

"Uh, that's 'interrupt', Petrie." Aylene corrected.

The conversation would've continued if Grandpa Longneck had not cleared his throat again. Everyone fell quiet once and again and turned their attention back to the old Apatosaurus.

"As I was saying," Grandpa Longneck continued calmly, "after many crossings of the sun, great herds began to appear on the land. The Long-necks…"

Littlefoot smiled at the mention of his own kind.

"…the Spike-tails.."

Spike grinned.

"…the Three-horns."

Cera gave a proud expression.

However, it didn't last for very long. For at that moment, two small creatures came running out of the darkness of the trees and jumped on Cera.

"OH, my gosh!" Aylene screeched, surprised.

Cera grunted as the two creatures pinned her to the ground. It turned out that what had leapt on her were two little grey Triceratops. One was darker than the other, but they basically looked identical in every other way.

They laughed and jumped on her with enthusiasm. Only Cera wasn't amused by this at all. She knew who had caught her.

"Oh, Dana, Dinah!" the male twin said in an innocent boy voice.

"Threebie hornas!" the female twin followed in a cute girl voice.

"Hiya!"

Cera groaned with irritation. She then forced herself up to her feet, pushing the twins off of her. They both slid off her back and landed on each side of her.

"Hush you two," Cera ordered with surprisingly calm authority, "or Auntie Cera's going to be upset!"

"Ooh! Auntie Cera!" Ducky teased. "Well!"

The little swimmer started to giggle in amusement, but was immediately silenced by Cera, who got up in her face with a highly annoyed expression. It was one of Cera's expressions that you couldn't ignore if you didn't want to get chewed out by her, or even knocked around a bit.

"Alright, children, settle down." Grandpa Longneck said, breaking up the fight before it got out of hand.

Cera backed away from Ducky and laid back down. The twins, Dinah and Dana, snuggled up next to her as they waited for the elder long-neck to continue with is story. They were so happy to be next to her that they didn't even notice Cera's frown. She really didn't want to have them around.

"So what happened then, Grandpa Longneck?" Derek asked, wanting to move things along.

"Some of these herds," Grandpa Longneck replied, "in their migrations across the land, found the most fertile, beautiful place in the world."

"The Great Valley!" the Gang exclaimed.

"Yes," Grandpa Longneck nodded, "and more many years, life in the Great Valley was good."

It was then that Grandpa Longneck's voice changed from light-hearted to serious.

"Until one day," he said eerily, building up tension, "Sharptooth came!"

At the mention of that name, the Gang couldn't help but shudder. They knew that Grandpa Longneck meant THE Sharptooth. The one that had pursued them to the Great Valley a long time ago. The one they fought so hard to defeat. Memories of that monster of a T-Rex came flooding back to them, making them all feel as if they suddenly had ice in their blood.

At same time, Elaine gasped in alarm.

"Hold on a minute, did you say "Sharptooth"?" she asked quickly. "And he attacked the Great Valley?"

"Yes," Grandpa Longneck answered, "the biggest, meanest, most ferocious biter ever."

"It wouldn't happen to be Sharptooth himself, would it?" Elaine asked. "The one that my granddaughter and her friends defeated? Also once known as the "Walking Terror"?"

"Why, yes in fact." Grandpa Longneck said.

The moment Sharptooth's name was mentioned, the whole Gang turned and looked at Elaine with wide eyes.

"You know about Sharptooth?" Littlefoot said, bewildered.

"You could say that." Elaine replied. "I was one of the few who fought him. In fact, I fought him long ago right here in this Valley."

Everyone gasped in shock.

"Wait," Aylene spoke up, "I remember you told me about that."

"Grandpa Longneck," Elaine turned to look up at the old Apatosaurus, "this story wouldn't happen to involve the Lone Wanderers, would it?"

Grandpa Longneck blinked and gave a look of astonishment.

"You mean you're…" he started.

"If it is, then I would like to request if I may tell this story. That is, if it's okay with you."

"Yes, of course." Grandpa Longneck nodded.

Elaine didn't have to do much to get everyone's attention. She had it the moment she said she had a connection to Sharptooth. She just had to prepare herself for telling this story. It had been so long ago, but she remembered that day like it happened just moments ago.

Elaine took a deep breath and began her tale. As she spoke, everyone forgot about the outside world. Their whole focus was completely on her and her story.

"Long ago," Elaine said in a low voice, "my dinosaur friend and I traveled across this world. My friend was a long-necked dinosaur known as a Diplodocus. His name was Doc. We wandered all over this land, you could say we were loners. That's how we became known as the Lone Wanderers. One day, we heard rumors about a T-Rex going around and killing dinosaurs without mercy. The T-Rex in question was Sharptooth. We soon saw for ourselves that it was true. I'll spare you the gruesome details, but I will tell you that it was horrific to say the least. Eventually, Doc and I decided to take action. We knew our chances against him were slim, but we had to try. The two of us had faced many predators in our lives, so we had some confidence in our skills.

"However, for a while we couldn't find. Then one night, we received help from…a very unlikely source. As we passed an oasis, a biter hiding in the trees told us where to find Sharptooth. He said that he was heading for the Great Valley, so we immediately set out there. We didn't know if the information was true, but it was better than nothing. Luckily, our source was correct, and made it to the Valley just in time…"

* * *

 _Many years ago…_

 _The very sky itself seemed to turn crimson, as if warning every creature in the Great Valley that blood was about to be spilled today._

 _Roars of Sharptooth echoed throughout the land, terrorizing all the plant eaters that were residing there. They all knew of Sharptooth's strength, and they all feared him because of it. Every herd scattered to get away, hoping that they would at least live to see another day. Sharptooth pursued them with gruesome pleasure. He couldn't wait to sink his teeth into the flesh of every dinosaur in this Valley._

 _He wasn't leaving until the place was scattered with bones. And he would start with the long-necks._

 _Sharptooth scanned around for his first prey. His red, humanlike eyes soon locked onto a little long-neck hatchling. And just as he did, the hatchling, who had not been watching where he was going, got his foreleg caught in a large root sticking up out of the ground. When the hatchling realized what had happened, he panicked and desperately tried to pull himself out. But he was stuck._

 _All he could do was cry for help._

 _"MAMA!"_

 _The hatchling's mother heard her son's call and answered immediately. Fearful for the life of her child, she turned around and raced to save her son. However, by the time she had reached him and pulled him out, Sharptooth had closed in and was now towering over them. The female long-neck was in no position to fight or defend, the best she could do was try and protect her son._

 ** _"First catch of the day."_** _Sharptooth growled with savage delight._

 _For one horrible moment, Sharptooth's deadly jaws closed it, ready to bite down and break his prey's neck._

 _But at that moment, everything changed._

 _A decisive twang came out of nowhere, a strange object zipped through the air, and struck Sharptooth in the leg._

 _Sharptooth howled in pain and stumbled back. He looked down and saw a stick with feathers on the end embedded the upper part of his left leg._

 ** _"What the!"_** _Sharptooth snarled._

 ** _"SHARPTOOTH!"_** _a female voice shouted in the tongue of a biter._

 _Sharptooth turned in the direction the voice came from. As he did, the ground shook as a mighty force stomped onto the scene._

 _The female long-neck and her son both stared as they saw who had come to their rescue._

 _A large Diplodocus stood before them. On his back, with an archery bow in her left hand, was a young human girl._

 _The Lone Wanderers had arrived. And they were ready to fight._

 ** _"What in the world?!"_** _Sharptooth roared._ _ **"Why are you here?!"**_

 ** _"Your terror ends today, Sharptooth!"_** _Elaine challenged._ _ **"We're here to stop you!"**_

 ** _"That so, human?!"_** _Sharptooth sneered._ _ **"Fine by me! I'll enjoy destroying the two of you!"**_

 _Elaine changed her dialect so she could speak to her friend._

 _"Get ready, Doc! He's going to attack!"_

 _Doc nodded before glanced at the two other long-necks._

 _"Get out of here!" he commanded in a gruff voice._

 _The two Great Valley long-necks hesitated for a moment. Finally, they retreated to a place where they wouldn't be in the way. However, they couldn't bring themselves to flee entirely. They had never seen a spectacle like this one._

 _A lone dinosaur and a small human taking on Sharptooth. They just had to see if the ones who had saved them would win._

 _Sharptooth began to advance on Doc and Elaine, but the two held their ground. They weren't running away. The whole Great Valley was at stake. The lives of many depended on them. If Sharptooth had his way, this place would end up being nothing more than a graveyard._

 _They couldn't let that happen._

 _This was a fight the Lone Wanderers couldn't afford to lose._


	4. Chapter 3: Beyond the Legend

**Beyond the Legend**

 _Elaine balanced herself on Doc's back as Sharptooth began to stalk towards them. The T-Rex was like a lion closing in on his prey. A very cocky and savage lion at that. His back was arched, his jaws were open to reveal large teeth dripping with saliva, and the talons on his feet dug into the soil of the earth._

 _It was now that Elaine was more grateful than ever to have mastered the art of fighting on the back of a sauropod. It was also a good thing that Doc could read her foot movements just by feeling them on his back._

 _This was where their teamwork and fighting prowess was put to the test. They blocked out all distractions around them, focusing only on the each other, and their opponent._

 _Sharptooth moved in. Doc noticed his actions and moved as quickly as his large body would allow him to. To keep Sharptooth at bay, and to keep Elaine safe, he faced Sharptooth. This wouldn't allow him to attack, but it kept Sharptooth within his line of vision. Doc slowly backed away as Sharptooth began to make mock lunges towards him._

 ** _"You running away already?!"_** _Sharptooth roared._ _ **"I thought you were tougher than that!"**_

 _What Sharptooth didn't know was that Doc wasn't backing down because he was afraid. He was waiting for a signal. Shortly after Sharptooth taunted him, Doc felt Elaine's foot quickly jab twice into the base of his neck._

 _That was the signal._

 _Before Sharptooth realized what was going on, Doc quickly turned to the right so that his left side faced the monstrous T-Rex. Elaine already had an arrow on the string of her bow. She pulled it back as soon as Doc turned, and took aim. With her expert marksmanship, even in the heat of battle, she released her arrow and struck her target._

 _Sharptooth felt the arrow pierce through the flesh and muscle in left his flank. He gave an agonizing howl that sounded almost like a dying elephant. He reeled back, his eyes shut from the pain of the injury in his side._

 _Doc and Elaine braced themselves for Sharptooth's counterattack. However, nothing could've prepared them for what was going to happen next._

 _Sharptooth's growls quickly began to grow into something more menacing and ferocious, as if they were losing sanity. He then stood up tall. This made Doc take one nervous step back and Elaine brace herself. After an injury like that, the T-Rex shouldn't be able to stand like that. It was like the monster had completely forgot about it. Or like he had completely neglected his sense of pain._

 _Things only got more intense when Sharptooth's whole body tensed, and his eyes snapped open._

 _Doc and Elaine both froze with fear when they saw Sharptooth's eyes lock straight onto them. His eyes weren't humanlike anymore._

 _They were blood-shot red, and full of soulless vengeance._

 _Doc and Elaine had heard enough rumors around on their journeys to know what those eyes meant. This was no doubt caused by Elaine's shot to the leg._

 _Sharptooth had gone insane. Insane and dangerous._

 _With an angry roar, Sharptooth charged towards the Lone Wanders. Because they were distracted, neither Doc nor Elaine noticed him rushing towards them until it was too late. When Sharptooth came within three feet of them, Doc backed away hastily. However, the mad T-Rex moved faster than Doc could turn._

 _With his vision crimson and hazy, Sharptooth aimed for the human woman on the Diplodicous's back. Somehow, his current state of mind remembered that she was the one who had caused him injury._

 _When Elaine finally realized what was happening, Sharptooth came to slash at her with one of his talons. Elaine screamed and hurried back, causing her to trip and fall on Doc's back._

 _Sharptooth closed in for the kill._

 _"ELAINE!"_

 _If that talon had reached Elaine, she never would've breathed again. However, Doc, acting purely out of instinct, swung his head around in an effort to shield Elaine from the devastating attack. He knew he would very well end up hurt, but he did it anyway to protect his human friend._

 _Even though Doc had braced himself for the pain that was to come, that didn't stop him from roaring in agony as Sharptooth's talon drove itself into his skin, just barely missing his right eye, and slashed down his neck._

 _"DOC, NO!" Elaine cried when she saw her friend attacked._

 _Doc, disoriented and in stinging pain, staggered back for a few feet. Elaine hung onto the fold of the skin on his back, trying to keep herself from falling off. If she was knocked off of Doc from this height, she would no doubt break some kind of bone. And that was only if she was lucky._

 _Sharptooth took advantage of his enemy's distraction and moved in. Normally, any dinosaur, predator or prey, would wait until their opponent showed that they could still fight before attacking them again. But Sharptooth had disregarded all rules of combat. He just wanted to kill his enemies by any means that he could._

 _Especially if it was a long-neck. And he wanted to kill this long-neck purely for the sake of killing it._

 _Sharptooth opened his jaws wide, and attempted to grab Doc by his neck in the hopes of snapping it with a single, devastating bite._

 _However, Doc managed to come to a stop, which gave Elaine some time to regain her balance. She looked up to see Sharptooth coming in to end her friend's life. Thinking quickly, Elaine drew another arrow as fast as she could. She pulled it back on the string of her bow, took a quick aim at Sharptooth, and released the arrow._

 _This time Elaine's arrow shot past Sharptooth, grazing a spot just below his right eye. This made Sharptooth stop in his advance and roar in pain._

 _That roar reached Doc's ears and snapped him back to reality. He didn't have the time to let his injury get the best of him. The scratch above his eye hurt horribly, but it didn't inhibit him in any other way. He could still fight._

 _And he had to fight. This wasn't the time to be weak. More than one life was at stake._

 _Not to mention, Elaine's arrows could only do so much damage. She wasn't the powerhouse of the team, he was._

 _And it was time he did his part._

 _Doc came to his senses and responded accordingly. As soon as Sharptooth moved in to attack Elaine again, Doc whipped his long tail around like a lasso and wrapped it around Sharptooth's right ankle. The Diplodocus then yanked with all the strength he could muster. Sharptooth lost his balance and stumbled back a few feet as Doc released his hold on his ankle._

 _Sharptooth couldn't regain his footing in time. He fell to the ground at the edge of a large cliff, hitting his head against a massive boulder and causing it to break apart into small chunks of rock that flew through the air in random directions. There, the giant Tyrannosaurus Rex laid there, completely stunned._

 _Doc moved in closer, waiting to see if Sharptooth would get back up. As much as he wanted to get rid of this monster, he wasn't going to be dishonorable. This might have been a fight to the death, but it was still a fair fight, and Doc was going to honor the rules of combat._

 _Unlike Sharptooth._

 _As Doc and Elaine suspected, Sharptooth began to get up. He turned his head around to face the Lone Wanders with an even more angry and ferocious look in his blood-red eyes. Doc was close enough to touch the T-Rex, and that meant that Sharptooth was close enough to attack with a single lunge._

 _Which is what Sharptooth was about to do. He braced his muscles and leapt up towards the massive Sauropod._

 _But Doc had the advantage. Which was a good thing, too. Because this was his only chance to end the fight once and for all._

 _Using his tail, Doc whiplashed Sharptooth with all the strength he had. This pushed Sharptooth back again. This time, Sharptooth's foot slipped off the edge of the cliff. Before he had time to save himself, Sharptooth fell straight down the side of the cliff into the abyss below to where a river with raging rapids flowed. The last thing that anyone heard from him was a long roar that was immediately replaced with a loud "SPLASH" the moment he hit the river._

 _For a moment, silence swept across the whole Valley like a ripple in a pond. All at once, the dangerous atmosphere that Sharptooth had brought with him disappeared. It reached out to all the residence of the Great Valley, who all stopped retreating and turned to look back._

 _They all fell still._

 _The long-neck mother and her son, who had watched the entire fight from the moment it began, stared with wide eyes. They couldn't believe what they had just seen._

 _The Lone Wanders had actually defeated Sharptooth. No one had been able to do that before. But these two somehow managed to do the impossible._

 _However, they didn't come out unscathed._

 _Elaine had braced her hand against Doc's neck to steady herself. For a while, she just looked down into the shadows of the deep ravine that Sharptooth had just fallen into. It was too dark for her to see anything. All she could hear was the raging rapids echoing off the walls that led down into the abyss below. She breathed heavily to try and calm her pounding heart, and to stop her limbs from shaking so badly. She had been through many life and death situations before, but this one topped them all._

 _She was just grateful that she and her friend managed to come out alive._

 _Upon remembering her dinosaur friend, Elaine suddenly jolted with realization. She turned to look up at Doc's injury, and she gasped in horror._

 _The wound above Doc's eye and down his neck was bleeding. Deep crimson blood was slowly seeping out. Doc had shut his right eye tightly to keep any blood from trickling into it. His blood slid down the rest of his neck and dripped down onto the ground below. Elaine looked over at her hand and saw it was stained red._

 _Red with her friend's blood._

 _She pulled her hand away and stared at it for a moment, her eyes full of terror._

 _"Doc, we must clean that wound!" Elaine said urgently, turning up to look at her friend's face._

 _Doc just responded by quickly glancing at Elaine with his left eye. Silently, he turned away and began to lumber off towards the opening in the Great Wall they had used to enter the Valley just minutes earlier._

 _Seeing his heroes going, the young long-neck dinosaur set out running after them._

 _"Wait!" he called out. "Come back! Come back!"_

 _Doc stopped for a second to look back at the young long-neck, who came to a complete stop and looked up at the large Diplodocus with pleading eyes. Elaine also turned her head towards the little Sauropod with a clear expression of regret. She then looked back at Doc. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he felt the same way that she did._

 _Neither one wanted to leave the Valley, but they couldn't stay here. They had done the mission they had set out to do. Now they had to return to the Mysterious Beyond._

 _Without another word, the Lone Wanders turned away from the Great Valley, and disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared._

* * *

 _Back to the present…_

"After that," Elaine said softly, "Doc and I found a spring where we could recover. I tended to his wound, and we continued on our journeys. For a while, we thought that Sharptooth's terror had finally been put to rest. However…"

Elaine paused. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She clasped her hands tightly in her lap.

"He wasn't defeated." Derek said seriously.

"Right." Elaine replied, opening her eyes. "Turned out that we didn't defeat Sharptooth. We just injured him in battle. What's more, he was mindlessly rampaging across the land."

Aylene frowned at that statement. Because of of one of her adventures to a certain Mysterious Island, she knew the reason why Sharptooth acted that way.

"As soon as we heard that," Elaine continued, "Doc and I immediately began to think of a plan to stop him once and for all. Unfortunately, before we could put it into action, I had to go back to my world to resupply. When I tried to come back to this world, the Time Stone, for some reason, was unable to take me back."

Everyone stared at Elaine with sad and sympathetic expressions. At the same time, the Gang all lowered their gazes towards the ground for a second. They then looked at each other, knowing they were all thinking the same thing.

At the same time, hearing about Elaine's fight with Sharptooth made them think about their own fight with the monstrous T-Rex. It was a long time ago, but they still remembered every single moment. They remembered how terrified they felt, but also how brave they were when they stood up to him. They also remembered the relief and joy when it was all over. They would never forget the happiness when they managed to all come out of it alive.

That fight also strengthened their friendship. Ever since that day, they had become inseparable.

The Gang came back to reality when they heard Elaine give a sad sigh.

"I never saw my friend again," she said bitterly. "It's been so long. He probably wandered around the world, alone, waiting for me. I don't even know if he's still alive. I wish I had seen him, one last time."

Elaine remained silent for a moment as she forced back her emotion. She took in a deep breath and held it for a second. Then, she gave a soft smile and looked up at her grandchildren and young dinosaurs.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I don't mean to get so downhearted. If nothing else, I am glad that the Stone was able to work for my granddaughter. I can see she made some wonderful friends. And I'm so glad my grandson can share this world with his sister, too."

"And we're very grateful, too, Grandma." Derek said, giving a big grin. "I gotta way though, it was quite a shock."

"At least you had a warning." Aylene smirked. "I was sent to another world out of the blue. Seriously, I had to do a double-take."

That comment made everyone present chuckle.

"Anyway," Elaine said with a shrug, "that is my tale."

"That was a great story, Elaine." Littlefoot complimented.

"Yeah, thank you for sharing it." Ducky said innocently.

"I'm glad you liked it." Elaine smiled. "I was hoping I could share that story someday."

It was then that Grandpa Longneck lowered his head down to everyone's level.

"You know, Elaine," he said wisely, "that story isn't quite over yet. At least, not in this world."

"What do you mean?" Elaine asked, looking up at the elder Apatosaurus with surprise.

"Well," Grandpa Longneck continued, sounding mysterious and ancient once again, "legend has it that a few days after Sharptooth's defeat, a giant, shining rock came falling out of the sky. It illuminated the night sky as it traveled down to the Great Valley."

Once again, everyone fell silent and listened intently as Grandpa Longneck spoke.

"When it struck the ground, the earth shook with a mighty force. Herds scattered in every direction to avoid being crushed by rocks that loosened the sides of sheer cliffs and trees toppled over to the ground. Then, out of the ground where the strange rock hit, a massive rock began to rise up out of the ground like a mountain, sparking with a strange blue energy that was like lightning. It continued to rise up as if to meet the heavens. By the time it stopped growing, it towered over even the tallest of dinosaurs. Everyone stared at it with both fear and admiration. Upon closer look, they saw that it greatly resembled that of a long-neck. So they called it "Saurus Rock"."

Grandpa Longneck then lifted his head and looked over to his left. Everyone followed his gaze. Far off in the distance was a small mountain range that stretched across the Great Valley. It wasn't part of the Great Wall, but it still was a kind of divide from another part of the Valley.

Because of the darkness of the night, and the limited glow of the moon and stars, no one could see anything beyond it. But they could easily assume that Grandpa Longneck was indicating the direction in which this Saurus Rock monument was.

"And it's there to this very day." Grandpa Longneck said. "Sometimes when the wind is just right and blows away the mists, you can see it, watching over the Great Valley just like the Lone Wanders did so many years ago."

"Amazing." Elaine whispered to herself. "I didn't know that."

"They also say," Grandpa Longneck continued, "if you look very closely, you can see a circle of teeth around its neck."

"Real teeth?" Littlefoot questioned, his eyes big with curiosity.

"The story goes that they came from the very Sharptooth the Lone Wanders defeated." Grandpa Longneck added.

Everyone both shuddered and breathed in awe.

"And that happened shortly after Sharptooth's attack on the Valley?" Aylene questioned. "Interesting."

"Does the legend say anything else about it?" Derek asked.

"Well, it is said," Grandpa Longneck answered, "that if anything ever happens to Saurus Rock," the elder Apatosaurus's voice turned grave for dramatic effect, "bad luck would descend upon the Great Valley."

Littlefoot took in a breath of air.

"Is it all true, Grandpa?" he said, mesmerized.

Grandpa Longneck looked down at his grandson and gave a light chuckle.

"Well, given Elaine's testimony, I'd say that part of the legend is true," he said with a smile. "As for Saurus Rock, it is a grand adventure, and a really good story. And it is nice to know that somewhere out there is someone watching over us all."

It was then that footsteps began approaching. Everyone paused and saw that a large shadow was approaching them out of the darkness. In a few seconds, the figure came into view.

It was Grandma Longneck.

"Grandpa Longneck," she said in a lecturing tone, "are you filling these children's heads full of nonsense, and just before bedtime."

Grandpa Longneck looked over at his mate with a startled expression, almost like he was a little hatchling that had just been caught taking the last treestar from the tree.

"Why, no, I was just," he stammered, "I was…ju-, um."

Grandma Longneck gave a soft smile and shook her head.

"Yes, I know," she spoke gently. "But it's late. Time for little ones to be in the nest, resting for another day."

As if by some weird spell that the female Apatosaurus words cast, everyone began to realize just how tired they were. Dinah and Dana expressed their exhaustion the most by yawning loudly. Their eyelids drooped, and they just stared kind of blankly.

"She right," Petrie yawned. "Me pooped. 'Night everyone."

"'Night, Petrie." Littlefoot replied as the little flyer flew off in the direction of his home.

"We should be heading home, too." Ducky said as she climbed onto Spike's back. "Good Night, everyone."

"Good night, you two." Aylene nodded.

As Spike walked off with Ducky riding on him, Cera looked over that the twins. Seeing them both on the verge of falling asleep, she groaned and walked over to them.

"C'mon, you two," she commanded, trying to sound encouraging rather than annoyed.

"No uppies." Dana moaned.

"Dinah, Dana, sleepy." Dinah said, yawning as if to get her point across.

Cera let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. Looked like there was only one way to get the twins back to the nest. She would have to carry them on her back. Luckily, they both small enough that she could carry them at the same time.

"Oh, alright." Cera groaned. "Hop on."

At the prospect of getting a ride, Dinah and Dana seemed to miraculously become full of energy once again. With a jumble of their twin dialect, they quickly climbed up onto Cera's back, much to her displeasure. Once she had the twins on her back, Cera began to slowly walk off towards her nesting sight.

"Ow!" she suddenly exclaimed painfully. "Don't yank my horns! They're attached, you know!"

Seeing her Triceratops friend in discomfort and trying so hard to hold back her frustration towards the twins, Aylene brought her hand to her mouth to conceal her grim smile.

"Poor Cera," she said through a small laugh.

"I think she'll be fine." Derek shrugged. "Well, c'mon. Let's get some sleep."

"Good idea." Elaine said. "But first, let's put out this fire."

Since the bonfire was slowly dying out, the remaining group just had to throw some dirt and soil over it to put it out completely. Since Grandpa and Grandma Longneck were there to help, the process took about two to three minutes at most.

Once they had done that, Elaine turned to the young Apatosaurus who was standing next to her granddaughter.

"Littlefoot," she said with a gentle smile, "why don't you lead the way?"

"Okay." Littlefoot nodded. "Just follow me."

Littlefoot turned to Aylene, and she mounted onto his back. Once she was securely on, he began to walk off towards the nest. Derek and Elaine walked closely beside him, while Grandpa and Grandma Longneck followed close behind.

As Aylene rode on her friend's back, her mind began to drift back to the story her grandmother just told. Although she had known that Elaine had fought against Sharptooth before, this was the first time she had every heard the full story. It was both amazing to hear how the Lone Wanders triumphed over the most terrifying dinosaur in all of the Land Before Time. They might not have defeated him entirely, but they did at least give a small shred of hope that the Walking Terror could be defeated some day.

At the same time, Aylene felt bad for her grandmother. Because of an unexpected turn of events with the Time Stone, Elaine never got to see her friend again. She didn't even get to say good-bye.

Aylene had to bite her lips to keep herself from getting too emotional. Just the knowledge of what her grandmother went through made her think about the first time she said good-bye to her friends after their journey to the Great Valley. Although she later discovered she could come back to this world, she knew she would never forget the pain and sadness of never seeing her friends again.

If that really did happen, Aylene didn't know what she would do.

Aylene shook her head slightly to brush the thought away. She was here with her friends now. That was all that mattered.

And while Elaine might not be her with her friend, she was at least back in the world that had given her so many adventures.

* * *

Up along the ridge of the Great Wall, a large silhouette appeared. It wandered silently across the mountain trail until it came to a small cliff that overlooked the Valley. There is stopped and stood under the glow of the full moon.

It was a large long-necked dinosaur.

Over the past few days, this dinosaur had heard rumors that caught his attention. From the very few places he went to that were populated by other leaf-eaters, he heard stories of how Sharptooth had finally been defeated.

And the ones who had defeated him were in the Great Valley.

Those alone would've been enough to catch his attention, but would be it. He wouldn't have traveled to the Great Valley just to see who had defeated Sharptooth. That Walking Terror was gone, and that was all that mattered to him.

However, there was something else in those stories that made him travel such a long way.

One of Sharptooth's defeaters had been a human. A female human. One that was skilled with the bow. And the stories all said that she had brown hair and blue eyes.

There was only one person that this long-neck knew who fit that description.

He just had to find out if the rumors he heard were true.

As he stood on the cliff and looked down on the Valley below. It was bathed in the silvery glow of the moon in the sky, and scattered with dark shadows from the trees and cliff surrounding it.

As he stared down into the beautiful and enchanting landscape, he spoke to himself in a voice that sounded as old and ancient as a graveyard,

"Elaine. Have you really returned to the Valley?"


	5. Chapter 4: A Long-Awaited Reunion

**A Long-Awaited Reunion**

 _The Next Day…_

The bright morning sun shone down on the Great Valley. Its rays gave warmth to everything down below.

Just like on any normal days, all the dinosaurs were wandering around the Valley. Either foraging their favorite plants to eat, watching their children run and play across the grassy fields, or talking to others about the day.

It was no different in a certain part of the Valley.

Aylene and Derek faced each other in a sparring match. The two of them each had a long stick in their hands, and they were using them like swords.

Ever since Aylene had discovered Fierce Loyalty, she and her brother had decided to practice swordplay with each other. Although neither one of them had ever had a sword lesson in their life, they did some research when they were back in the human world to figure out how to teach themselves the art of swordsmanship. They made it a point to practice as regularly with each other as they could.

While their skills would be considered amateurish by professional standards, for a dinosaur like Littlefoot, who had never seen a sword match in his life, it was always a wonder to see.

Littlefoot and Elaine stood side-by-side as they watched the Carter siblings practice their skills. For Littlefoot, he was captivated by the display of talent that his human friends could do with just two sticks. They didn't swing them around wildly, they used them with precision and intention. Both Aylene and Derek looked both graceful and fierce in the eyes of the young long-neck.

For Elaine, she smiled with pride. What she was seeing was her grandchildren coming into their own. They weren't the same grandchildren that she had seen last summer. Aylene wasn't a shy and insecure girl who moped about her differences, she was a confident and adventurous teenager who was ready to take on two worlds. Derek wasn't as sarcastic and skeptical as he used to be, he was more outgoing and open-minded to whatever wonders came his way.

And the two siblings had finally reconciled with each other, and were sharing this world together. This world had definitely been a positive influence on both of them.

Finally, after a good strike from both brother and sister, the two sticks struck each other to form an X shape. Aylene and Derek paused for a moment to catch their breath before lowering their makeshift weapons. The two of them stood tall and looked straight at each other.

"Okay, time for a break." Derek said, wiping some sweat from his forehead.

"Sure." Aylene nodded. "Good match."

"Great job, you guys." Littlefoot ran over to his friends. "You look like you're getting better."

"Well, practice does make perfect." Aylene grinned. "Besides, this is really fun."

"Ditto to that." Derek replied. "I've always wanted to learn how to wield a sword. I just haven't had a good excuse up until now."

"Well, I think the two of you are doing wonderfully." Elaine complimented. "You certainly have come a long way, haven't you?"

"That's all thanks to you." Derek said. "If you hadn't give Sis that Time Stone, we wouldn't have been able to come to this world in the first place."

"I'm glad you enjoy this place. I knew Aylene would, but I have to admit, I wasn't quite sure about you. Of course, I see I was wrong to make that assumption. I'm sorry, Derek."

"Ah, don't worry about it." Derek waved his hand in a cool manner. "I don't blame ya. I'll admit, I was kind of against this place for a while. But just one adventure here was enough."

Elaine giggled. She was pleased to hear Derek say that.

"Well," Aylene interjected, stretching her arms, "now that that's done, what do you say we go and round up the rest of the Gang? We can show Grandma around the Valley."

"Yes, I'd like that." Elaine smiled. "It'll be interesting to see how the Valley's changed since I was here."

"Sounds like fun." Littlefoot said excitedly. "Let's go."

The three humans gathered up their belongings and got ready to head out. However, it was at that moment that they heard heavy footsteps approaching. They weren't as heavy a sauropod's, but they weren't exactly light either.

Everyone turned their heads in the direction the foot tremors were coming from.

What they saw was an adult grey Triceratops was walking up towards them.

"Topps?" Derek said, confused. "What's he doing here?"

Littlefoot and Aylene both stared and watched the elder Triceratops approach them. As they expected, the look on his face was one of annoyance. There was also an air of confrontation about him, which made them brace themselves for whatever storm he was about to throw at them.

Topps stopped in front of the small group and looked down at all four of them. He was looking particularly at Littlefoot and Aylene.

"So you're both here," he grumbled.

"Yeah," Aylene said slowly, "is there something wrong?"

"Tell me, have any of you seen Cera today?" Topps asked, his tone demanding.

"No, we haven't seen her." Littlefoot shook his head. "Why? Is she missing?"

"Ugh," Topps groaned in frustration, "I woke up this morning and she was gone. She was supposed to be watching the twins today."

"Well, maybe she and the twins are playing somewhere?" Derek suggested.

It was then that the sound of feet running across the grass caught Derek's attention. He looked down at Topps's feet and saw the twin three-horns run towards him. They were like little puppies who were eager to play. They came to a stop at Derek's feet and looked up at him with big, innocent eyes.

"Cerrie gone gone." Dinah said.

"Dana, Dinah look high and low." Dana followed.

"No find Cerrie."

"I see." Aylene said. "So Cera's really gone missing."

She then looked up at Topps.

"But why'd you come here?"

Topps glared at Aylene.

"Because when my daughter goes missing, you and Littlefoot are usually the reason for it."

"Hey!" Aylene snapped indignantly.

"Heh, he got you on that one, Sis." Derek snickered.

Aylene shot an annoyed expression at her older brother, while Littlefoot looked away guiltily. He hated to admit it, but Topps kind of had a point. Their past adventures were enough to condemn them in that regard.

Elaine then stepped forward.

"Excuse me," she said to Topps. "I don't believe we've met. Are you Cera's father?"

Topps turned his attention to the woman.

"And you are?" he asked gruffly.

"I'm Aylene and Derek's grandmother." Elaine answered calmly. "My name is Elaine. Now if I understand the situation correctly, Cera is missing, but my granddaughter and her friend are still here."

Topps just looked at Elaine as she continued.

"I assume you came to check to see if they were still here because if they weren't, that would mean Cera has gone on a mission with them. Well, as you can see, they both are right here, and we haven't seen your daughter since last night at the campfire. Given the facts, I'd say she's still somewhere in the Valley."

"Yeah, I gathered that." Topps grumbled with annoyance. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to look for her. Look after the twins while I do."

"Hey, wait!" Derek started to protest.

But before the boy could go any further with his objection, Topps had already stormed away, leaving the Triceratops twins in the care of the young long-neck and humans.

"Wow," Aylene said, surprised, "you handled him really well, Grandma."

"It's just a matter of knowing how to talk at the right time." Elaine sighed. "Anyway, what do you want to do now?"

"Look for Cera, of course." Littlefoot said. "If she's missing, then we've got to try and find her."

"Right." Aylene nodded. "Let's start by rounding up the others. If they haven't seen Cera, then we'll meet up at the clubhouse and come up with a plan from there."

"Sounds good to me." Derek replied. "Let's go."

The boy then looked down at the twins.

"You two better come with us," he said. "Either we keep an eye on you, or get Topps angry. And I don't want to have to deal with him when he's mad."

"Uh-huh, no!" Dinah and Dana said in unison, shaking their heads.

With that matter settled, the small group set out.

* * *

The sun was approaching noontime Littlefoot, Aylene, and the other members of the Gang gathered together outside of their clubhouse, which was a small trench behind a tangle of tree roots.

"So none of us have seen Cera since yesterday." Aylene said.

"Where do you think she could be?" Ducky asked. "Do you think she's hiding from us?"

"Me no know." Petrie shrugged.

"I don't think she has any reason to hide from us." Littlefoot said. "She only does that when she's mad at us. And I can't think of anything that we might have done that would make her mad."

"That aside," Derek interjected, "she's still missing, and we've got to find her. I think our best bets are to search all of the hiding places we can think of in the Valley." Derek turned Aylene. "I take you guys know where those are."

"Yeah," Aylene nodded, "but we just waste time if we look together. We should split up. We'll cover more ground that way."

"Good idea." Elaine said. "I suggest we split into two teams."

"I'll go with Ducky, Spike, and Petrie." Derek offered. "And I can take Dinah and Dana with me if that's okay."

"Yes, yes!" Dinah exclaimed happily.

"We go go!" Dana leapt up and down.

"Find Cerrie!"

Everyone chuckled and laughed that the energy of the twin three-horns.

"I think they like you, Derek." Elaine smiled.

Derek gave a small grin and shrugged his shoulders.

"Then I guess Littlefoot, Grandma, and I will be a team." Aylene said. "Now let's get moving. Knowing Cera, she could be just about anywhere."

With that, the two teams left the clubhouse and set out on their missions. Derek and his team went to search near the watering hole. While he, Ducky, Spike, Dinah and Dana searched on the ground in all the nooks and crannies they could think of, Petrie flew up into the sky in the hopes of seeing Cera from a bird's-eye-view. When they came across other dinosaurs, they would ask them about their friend's whereabouts. Unfortunately, the answer they got every time was that Cera had not been seen.

Still, that wasn't enough to make them downhearted. They were going to find Cera, that much they knew was certain.

Meanwhile, Aylene, Littlefoot, and Elaine went to look for Cera at the edge of a small forest. They looked in clumps of bushes, behind trees, and inside caves that were large enough to contain an adolescent Triceratops. They were all so focused on trying to find their friend that they didn't realize they were getting close and closer to the Great Wall.

Eventually, their search led them up a tall slope on the side of a cliff. It was about as high as a sauropod was tall.

"How are you doing, Grandma?" Aylene asked as they trudged up the incline.

"I'm alright, Aylene." Elaine replied, letting out a deep breath. "Although, I'll admit, I'm not as young as I once was."

"Well then, we should take a break."

"Good idea." Littlefoot agreed. "I think we could all use a break."

The small group of three got to the top of hill and stopped. They were all too tired and distracted to notice how close they were to the edge of cliff that stuck out over a gulley below. They also were unaware of the fact that the terrain wasn't very stable.

"Man, Cera picked a really good hiding place this time." Aylene groaned.

"You can say that again." Littlefoot sighed. "Or she just might be avoiding us. I just wish I knew what we did to make her mad."

"I don't think it was anything we did." Elaine said thoughtfully. "Or rather, not anything you two or your friends did."

"What do you mean?" Aylene asked.

"I'm starting to think Cera's avoiding the twins."

Both Littlefoot and Aylene blinked. Their silence prompted Elaine in explaining her theory.

"I could see Cera had become annoyed when they showed up during the storytelling. And from what Aylene had told me prior to coming here, I take it she's not used to taking care of younger kids."

"I did kind of notice that she was rather annoyed when they were around." Aylene commented. "I guess it doesn't help that they want to follow her wherever she goes now."

"Well, that's little kids for you." Elaine said. "They just want to follow someone around if they see them as a role model."

"Kind of like "hanging out with the cool kids" scenario. I get it."

"I've seen it myself, too." Elaine smirked at Aylene. "I remember when you and Derek were younger. You wanted to follow your brother around everywhere because you thought he was the coolest person in the world."

Aylene frowned. Littlefoot looked at his human friend and gave a small laugh.

"I don't remember that very much." Aylene admitted, shaking her head slowly.

"Well, you were very young, so I guess you wouldn't remember much." Elaine shrugged. "Still, point is that Dinah and Dana look up to Cera because she's older than them, and they most likely see her as a role model."

"And she's avoiding them because she thinks of them as a nuisance." Littlefoot said, giving a small look of disappointment.

"Hmm." Aylene groaned. "Then we better find her. We gotta give her a talking-to about taking responsibility."

"I don't think she's gonna be too happy about that." Elaine said. "Even I know that Cera doesn't like being lectured."

"You can that again." Littlefoot grinned nervously. "Still, if it's to help her, then as her friends, we need to-AUGH!"

Much to Littlefoot's terrified shock, the ground underneath him suddenly gave out from under him. Before he could even guess what was happening, he found himself falling straight down towards the rocky ground below.

Once Littlefoot hit it, that would be it.

"LITTLEFOOT!" Aylene screamed in terror when she saw him fall.

Elaine let out a startled shriek and ran to the edge of the cliff, Aylene was close behind. All the two humans could do was watch as Littlefoot plummeted to the ground below.

For a horrible moment, Aylene thought that was the end for her friend. Tears were already threatening to well up in her eyes at the thought of what was to come.

But at that moment, a miracle happened.

Out of the corner of Elaine's eye, she saw a big object move swiftly into the gulley. She snapped her head around and gasped.

Just before Littlefoot met the ground, something grabbed his tail. He yelped as he suddenly came to a stop in midair. He was held up for a second or two before the thing that had saved him slowly lowered him down to safety.

The moment his feet touched ground, Littlefoot let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh. Gee, thanks. For second I thought I was…"

Littlefoot's words fell back into his throat when he turned around to see who had saved him. What he saw made him gasp in amazement.

Standing above him, tall and strong, was an adult long-necked dinosaur. His skin was grey, almost like a thundercloud, and his eyes had a very ancient look to them.

His head was turned in such a way where Littlefoot could see a big scar across his face. It was just above his right eye, and it reached down to the middle of his longneck.

"W-Who are you?" Littlefoot stuttered, shocked.

"Name's Doc," the elder sauropod said. His voice was as gravelly as a bone bed.

Littlefoot's eyes widened when he heard that name. This couldn't be a coincidence.

"I-It's you!"

"Littlefoot, are you okay?!"

Littlefoot then looked up on the cliff he had just fallen from and saw Aylene looking down at him. Her blue eyes were big with worry. She wanted to know if her friend was alright or not.

"Aylene, Elaine!" Littlefoot called out. "I'm alright!"

When Littlefoot said the second name, the old long-neck jolted his head up, and his eyes widened noticeably. He turned towards the cliff and saw two female humans standing on the edge of it. His eyes locked on the one closest to him, which was Aylene.

Doc stared at the youngest one for a second. Very subtly, his face shifted to confusion. Aylene felt his gaze and looked up at him. She shrunk back went she met his eyes. Those eyes looked so ancient, but also so powerful. It felt like they were trying to see into her soul.

"Could it be?" Doc whispered to himself.

"Um, I…" Aylene said uncomfortably, unsure of what to say.

"Doc…is it…really you?"

Aylene heard her grandmother speak and turned around.

Elaine was staring at Doc with huge eyes that were starting to brim with tears. She had gone pale, and her arms were raised in front of her torso simply out of reaction. She breathed slowly and softly.

Doc lifted his eyes away from Aylene and looked at Elaine. When he saw her, his eyes widened even more.

He stared at her like he was looking at a ghost.

"Elaine."

Silence fell upon everyone. It was like time had stopped all around them. For moment, no one could speak.

Elaine and Doc just stared at each other for a long time. Aylene looked back and forth nervously between her grandmother and the Diplodocus in front of her. She wasn't quite sure to make of all this.

This was Doc? This was her grandmother's dinosaur friend?

Finally, Elaine swallowed hard and walked towards Doc. Doc moved his head in closer. When Elaine reached the edge of the cliff, she stopped. Hesitantly, she reached her hand out. Doc let her place it on the tip of his snout. He looked her straight in the eye…

And a smile came across his face.

Tears of joy welled up Elaine's eyes.

"It's you alright," she said softly, smiling. "You always had a habit of showing up at the right time."

"Same to you." Doc replied. "Guess we're both still lucky, even after all these years."

Elaine then threw her arms around Doc's snout as far as they could go and embraced him with all the strength she had. The tears in her eyes began to fall, sliding down her face and dripping onto her friend. Doc simply closed his eyes and accepted the gesture.

Aylene smiled as she watched the scene.

Her grandmother was reunited with her long-lost friend. After all those years of wondering and worrying, they were finally together again.

They reunited at last.


	6. Chapter 5: Heart to Heart

**Heart to Heart**

 _Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Valley…_

"Cera!"

"Cerrie!"

"Cerrie!"

"Cera! Come out, we know you're hiding!"

Derek groaned in frustration. Again, the calls of him and his friends were left unanswered.

"Ugh man, she sure picked a good hiding spot this time," he said, dropping his shoulders in exhaustion. "We can't find her anywhere."

"Maybe she's playing Hide-and-Seek." Ducky suggested. "Only she's the one who's "it", and we have to find her."

"You're talking about Sardines." Derek replied. "But I don't she's playing a game with us right now." Derek then turned his head up and called, "Hey, Petrie, any luck up there?!"

Petrie circled above the group for a moment before swooping down towards the group. He hovered in front of Derek.

"Me no see Cera anywhere." Petrie said, shaking his head.

"Oh, Dana no see Cerrie!" Dana whined.

"Boo-hoo, Dinah!" Dinah followed up.

The twin three-horns then began to cry simultaneously. Derek let out a deep breath of air and squatted to their level. He then patted each of them on the head.

"Hey, chin up," he said with an encouraging smile. "We'll find Auntie Cera. She's gotta be around here somewhere."

"Derek's right." Ducky replied. "I'm sure we'll find her soon."

Spike simply smiled and nodded his head, giving a small moaning sound as he did.

It was then that the group began to hear the sound of racing footsteps approaching them.

"Derek! There you are!"

Derek perked up when her heard the sound of his sister's voice calling out to him. He and the others turned their heads in the direction Aylene's voice came from and saw her and Littlefoot. Aylene was riding on Littlefoot's back, and he was racing towards as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Guys!" Littlefoot called, his voice full of excitement. "You'll never guess what happened!"

"You find Cera?" Petrie asked.

"No, but we did find someone else!" Aylene answered. She sounded just as excited as Littlefoot.

It wasn't until Littlefoot came to a stop right in front of them that Derek realized something.

"Sis, where's Grandma?"

"That's what we came here to tell you!" Littlefoot replied. "Elaine's friend's here! Doc is in the Valley right now!"

"What?!" Derek's exclaimed. His eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you sure?!"

"Yeah! He saved me from falling off a cliff! And he and Elaine recognized each other! It's really him! He's in the Great Valley right now!"

"We came to get you guys!" Aylene explained. "C'mon, you gotta meet him! He's just as Grandma described him!"

"That's amazing!" Ducky smiled. "I can't wait to meet him!"

"Dinah wanna see!" Dinah said, jumping up and down.

"So so Dana." Dana replied.

"What about Cera?" Petrie asked. "Me think we should find her first."

Aylene's smile faded when Petrie said that. She was so excited of introducing everyone to Doc that she had completely forgotten about Cera. The way she saw it, there was no point in introducing the Gang to Doc if the Gang wasn't all here.

"Yeah, you're probably right, Petrie," she said, trying to mask her disappointment. "Where do you think we should look now?"

"Actually, why don't you guys go on ahead." Derek suddenly said. "I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Aylene looked over at her brother with confusion. Had she looked over at him sooner, she would've noticed that he had been staring at some bushes on the edge of the forest.

"Are you sure, Bro?"

"Yeah, I just need to take care of something." Derek said. "But you guys go on ahead. I'll meet up with you later."

"Okay, if you're sure." Aylene shrugged. "C'mon guys. Let's go. We can't wait to introduce you."

In a matter of seconds, the Gang, along with Dinah and Dana, ran off towards the center of the Great Valley. As soon as they were out of ear-shot, Derek gave a small smirk.

"Coast is clear," he said casually. "Are you going to keep hiding in the bushes, Cera?"

In response, Cera lifted herself up out of the bushes with a surprised expression. Derek turned his head sideways to look at her with a rather smug grin.

"How did you know I was here?" Cera asked.

"I saw the bushes rustle." Derek simply said. "You did a good job sneaking around for a while, I'll give you that. But you still got some ways to go."

Cera groaned and gave a pouty face, making Derek chuckle.

"So, you mind telling me why you've been avoiding us, or do I have play Twenty Questions?" Derek asked.

"Are you going to keep being sarcastic?" Cera shot back.

"I'll make you a deal," Derek replied, "you tell me what's going on, and I'll drop the sarcasm. Fair enough?"

"Yeah, whatever." Cera grumbled.

The yellow Triceratops squirmed out of the thicket, and the human boy walked over to her. Derek sat down in the grass while Cera laid down in front of him.

"So, why have you been avoiding us?" Derek asked again, leaving out any sarcasm. "Did we do something to make you mad?"

"It's not you or my friends." Cera replied. "It's the twins."

Derek gave a quick grin. Somehow, he knew that was the answer.

"So you've been avoiding the twins all this time. Why?"

"Derek, I can't take it anymore!" Cera groaned, dropping her head down on her forepaws. "They won't leave me alone! And it doesn't help when Daddy said I had to take care of them! He didn't even bother to ask me if I even wanted to take care of them in the first place! And it's going to be days before their herd leaves the Valley! Which means I have to put up with them for several days! I just can't handle it anymore! I want to have fun with my friends without some little pests following me all over the place! I just want to tell them to get lost and leave me alone!"

Derek couldn't help it. He exhaled deeply and smiled, shaking his head as he did.

"What are you smiling about?!" Cera snapped. "I'm being serious here!"

"Oh, I know you are." Derek said. "And trust me, I totally get it. You're not used to babysitting kids."

"How can you know what I'm going through?!" Cera said harshly. "What makes you think that you know anything?!"

"Because I've been there." Derek replied calmly. "You're talking to someone who has a little sister."

"But Aylene's different! She can take care of herself, and she doesn't follow everyone around and try to do all the things they do with their friends!"

"Yeah, but she was kid once, too, you know. We all were kids at some point. You, me, all the grown-ups in the Great Valley."

"But-!"

"Let me finish!" Derek said, raising his hand up in a commanding way.

Cera closed her mouth and shrunk back just a bit. Derek didn't sound angry, but he was definitely exerting his authority now, and Cera could see that. While she didn't like getting lectured, she had enough respect for Derek to let him speak.

"Thank you." Derek cleared his throat. "As I was saying, I had to take care of Aylene when we were younger. There was even a time when she followed me around everywhere I went. She wanted to hang out with me and my friends, do everything I was doing, and even wanted to talk the same way as me. Oh gosh, that was embarrassing, especially in front of my friends."

"I kind of want to hear this." Cera admitted. "What did she do?"

"I'll save that for another time." Derek replied. He gave an impish grin. "When Aylene is around, so we can embarrass her."

Cera laughed at the idea. Although Derek probably wasn't being serious, it was still funny nonetheless.

"Anyway," Derek continued, becoming serious again, "there were times where Mom and Dad had to go out, and I was left in charge of taking care of Aylene. At first, I wasn't too thrilled about the idea, especially if it meant that I had to give up hanging out with my friends."

"Man, I feel sorry for you."

"Yeah, but after a while, I didn't mind. And you wanna know why?"

Cera nodded.

"She and I did things together. At first it was rough, as we both wanted to do different things. But a trick we came up with was compromising."

"Compromising?" Cera cocked her head sideways, making a confused expression.

"It means coming to an agreement on something." Derek explained. "And there were times where I had to be the bigger person and let Aylene have her way. But I was the older brother, I could handle that. That's growing up is all about. Being the bigger person, even when you don't want to be. It's all about trial and error. You try things, you do things, sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't. But the key is that you don't stop trying, and you always try to do the best you can."

Cera stared at Derek. For some reason, everything he was saying was making sense to her.

"Cera," Derek said, his tone shifting a kind of encouraging seriousness, "I know you're responsible, and you got what it takes to be a leader when the time call for you to be one. But if I can be honest with you, you need to step up and take that responsibility. I know you don't want to right now, but Dinah and Dana really do look up to you, even if you don't want them to. You need to set a positive role model for them. I know you can. You've done it many times before."

Cera frowned and looked away. She understood what Derek was saying, and she didn't feel like he was attacking her in anyway, but she still didn't like being told what to do.

"Why are you telling me all this?" she asked, kind of suspicious.

"Well," Derek shrugged, "to tell you the truth, you kind of remind me of myself when I was young."

Cera blinked. She wasn't expecting Derek to say that.

"And because of that, I feel I should offer you at least some advice."

Cera glanced away.

"I just…" she hesitated. "I don't know how to take care of kids."

Derek paused for a moment. Was that what the problem really was? Cera seemed to be very sincere now. And judging by the look on her face, she didn't seem to be lying to get out of her job.

She probably was at a loss of what to do in this situation.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Derek grinned. "I can help you with that."

At that suggestion, Cera perked up and looked back at the human sitting in front of her. There was a hopeful glint in her eyes.

"Really? You'd help me?!"

"Yeah, if you don't know how to take care of kids, then maybe you just need someone who's had experience to help guide you through it. Besides, two heads are better than one when you're just starting out."

"Oh, thank you, Derek!" Cera said gleefully. "You're the best!"

Derek chuckled lightly as he got to his feet. He then stretched his arms.

"Well, c'mon. The others are probably waiting for us by now. And I do wanna meet my Grandma's old friend."

"Okay, coming."

Cera got up from her spot, stretching her limbs for a second. Then, she and Derek began to walk across the Valley, following the footprints that their friends had been left in the grass.

As they walked, Derek gave Cera a light nudge to get her attention. She turned her head to look up at him and saw that he had his index finger in front of his lips.

"And I won't say a word about this to your dad," he said with a wink. "It'll be our little secret."

"Thanks, Derek." Cera said, sighing with relief.


	7. Chapter 6: Reconciled Bonds

**Reconciled Bonds**

 _Meanwhile…_

As Aylene and Littlefoot ran off to find their friends, Doc and Elaine waited patiently in silence. But it wasn't in a peaceful kind of silence. Both of them kept exchanging glances at one another. Elaine bit her lip a few times, and Doc kept taking in deep breaths.

Each of them was waiting for the other to say something first. The happiness and joy of seeing each other again seemed to have wavered a bit since Littlefoot and Aylene left. While there was still a hint of it, there was more of an uncertainty as to what they should say next. It had been so long since they had seen each other, let alone talk. They didn't quite know who should speak first.

Finally, Doc couldn't stand the quietness anymore.

"So, you finally came back."

Elaine frowned. Doc didn't sound like he was mad, but he did sound less than thrilled.

"So, what kept ya?" he asked, his tone sounding just a little bitter.

"Doc, I…" Elaine hesitated, "I'm so sorry. Believe me, I wanted to come back all those years ago, but I couldn't."

"Why's that?" Doc asked.

"The Stone just wouldn't work for me anymore." Elaine explained, looking away with sadness. "I tried and tried, but nothing I did worked. But you have to believe, I never wanted you think I abandoned you. I would never do that."

"I know." Doc said, his voice was very low. "That's not what worried me. I know you wouldn't have just abandoned our mission, nor did I ever think for a minute that you bailed out because you were afraid. I know you're not a coward, Elaine. No, that's not what worried me. I thought something horrible had happened to you. I honestly thought you had been killed back in your world."

Elaine shrunk back a bit.

"But you're obviously okay," Doc continued, "and you now have a granddaughter."

"And a grandson." Elaine added softly. "Aylene has an older brother."

"That said," Doc replied, "I can safely that you were okay the whole time you were gone. But I am curious, why did you give up trying to come back?"

Elaine brought a hand up to wipe away some tears forming in her eyes.

"Doc," she said slowly, fighting off the emotion of sadness, "I just couldn't take it anymore. I tried and tried for so long. But nothing I did worked. It became too much for me to handle. Finally, I just had to assume that the Stone stopped working for me. I thought it was because I was too old."

"Elaine, you were hardly my age when I last saw you." Doc pointed out. "You were in the prime of your life, and I can tell you are still significantly younger than me."

"I know." Elaine sighed heavily. "And the fact that Aylene was able to bring me back here pretty much debunks my theory anyway. But even now, I still don't know why it worked now and not back then. But please believe me, I never wanted to give up. I wanted to come back more than anything."

"I know you did." Doc said. "It's just…it was pretty hard without you. Not knowing if you were alive or dead. And not knowing if you were ever going to come back. For a while, I thought I would never see you again."

Elaine grimaced. She had no idea that her absence would cause this much pain to her dear friend. But she could see it in his eyes. He missed her just as much as she missed him.

Then Doc's stoic frown slowly changed into a soft smile.

"But you know, none of that seems to matter anymore. After all, if there's one thing we've learned from life, it's change what you can and accept what you can't. We've always tried to fix problems when we could. When we couldn't, we just had to move on."

"True." Elaine whispered. "But we also learned to never forget the ones we hold dear."

At last, Doc and Elaine made eye contact with each other. Doc then lowered his head towards his human friend, and Elaine reached her arms out to hug his snout.

"I thought about you every day." Elaine said warmly. "I hoped and prayed that you were safe and alive, and that someday we would see each other again."

"As did I." Doc replied in the same voice. "Though I had my doubts, I kept hoping I would see you at least one more time, my friend."

Those two words, "my friend", as simple as they were, struck a powerful cord in Elaine. A few tears escaped her eyes and slid down her cheeks. Her heart danced with happiness, and her soul felt revived.

Doc felt the same way as well. After years of waiting, wondering, hoping and fearing, he finally got to see his human friend again.

At long last, the two friends were reunited again.

After a few minutes, Elaine let go of Doc. The two looked at each other for a second before Doc looked up into the sky.

"You know," Doc said, "your granddaughter reminds me a lot of you. She has your eyes."

"Yes, I know." Elaine nodded. "And her friends are quite the curious bunch. To be honest, she and Littlefoot kind of remind me of us when we were younger. We just wanted to experience everything this world had to offer."

"True to that. That's why we left the Valley to begin with."

"Who would've thought that our adventures would take us here?"

"No one. But then again, the future is something we can never fully know. We can only keep walking on our own wondering trails until we reach the end."

"Heh, you haven't changed a bit, have you." Elaine smiled.

"I could say the same about you." Doc grinned.

At that moment, a voice called out to them.

"Grandma, we're back!"

Elaine and Doc looked over and saw Littlefoot and Aylene running back towards them with their friends close behind.

"Well, looks like we have some guests to entertain." Elaine said.

"I guess they'll want to hear our stories." Doc sighed heavily.

"That shouldn't be too hard." Elaine replied. "We've got plenty of those."

* * *

A little while later, the Gang was joined by Cera and Derek, much to Dinah and Dana's happiness. While Cera was less than thrill to be tackled by the twins, she was more interested in hearing the stories that Elaine and her Diplodocus friend had to tell than the twins.

Lucky for her, the twins were also eager to hear those stories.

During the rest of the afternoon, the Gang sat and listened to the many stories of the Lone Wanders.

They learned how Doc and Elaine first met in the Great Valley when Elaine first came to this world. Doc was an orphan who lived on his own. He met Elaine after she stumbled out of a portal and into his world. Seeing as the two were both alone, they had quickly struck up a friendship.

After a few years, they began to hear of the terrors happening to the leaf-eaters in the Mysterious Beyond. The two decided to leave the Valley to see what they could do to help. That's how their real adventures began. They traveled across the land with only just each other for company. They honed their fighting skills together until they became a cohesive team that could stand up to just about any predator that challenged them.

The whole time, the Gang was captivated by the stories of these two veterans of this world and its dangers. They didn't even notice the sun beginning to set behind the mountains surrounding the Valley. Nor did they notice the change in light as it went from gold, to pink, to red.

The stories that were being told by these two great heroes had all of their attention.

"Wow." Littlefoot exhaled. "You both had some really amazing adventures. I wish we could've been there."

"Same here." Aylene smiled. "I would love to have seen all the places you have seen."

"Well, it wasn't always fun and games, my dear." Elaine said gently. "There were times when we faced extreme dangers. There are times where I'm surprised that we managed to get out of them alive and intact."

"When you live in a world like this, survival isn't always certain." Doc added grimly. "But our footsteps were planted on the wandering trail long ago. And I wouldn't want to change that for anything."

"True." Elaine replied softly. "We did learn a lot about this world and ourselves on that trail. So in the end, I guess you can say that it was worth it."

"I guess I can agree with some of that." Derek shrugged. "But I do have to ask something."

"What's that, Derek?"

"Why did you give Aylene the Time Stone when you knew the dangers of this world? I mean, weren't you concerned for her safety?"

Elaine blinked at the question. She then regained her composure and answered calmly,

"Of course, I was. But the truth is, I thought she was going to end up in the Great Valley like I did, and just like my father. I thought the Valley was the starting place for all Time Stone users. I didn't think Aylene would end up outside of the Valley."

"Really?" Aylene asked, surprised.

"Well, I guess it's lucky for us that she ended up where we were." Cera grinned. "If she hadn't, I don't know where we'd be."

Aylene gave a big smile.

"And I don't know where I'd be without all of you," she said. "So, I guess it was a win-win situation for all of us."

The Gang couldn't help but laugh at that statement.

"Hmph, you're a cheerful bunch, aren't you?" Doc grinned. "It's very rare to see various herds of dinosaurs together. Some are just too prideful to get along."

"Well, we must be some of the exceptions." Ducky said. "Because we always have fun when we're together. Yep, yep, yep."

"And we take pride in our little herd." Littlefoot smiled. "After all, working together is how we got through many dangers."

"True to that." Aylene nodded. "I guess our meeting out in the middle of nowhere was a blessing in disguise."

"Well, we sometimes meet our friends in mysterious ways." Elaine grinned.

"And we sometimes lose them in mysterious ways." Doc frowned.

Everyone turned and looked at the elderly Diplodocus. They were half-expecting him to have a kind of sad expression on his face. But oddly enough, he looked more like he was in deep thought.

"Something wrong, Doc?" Elaine asked, concerned.

"Well, this might sound strange, but I seem to recall something that happened the night you left." Doc said.

"What that?" Petrie asked.

"I don't know how to explain it, but I remember that shortly after Elaine left for her world, a strange meteorite flew across the sky." Doc said. "It glowed an eerie blue, and was so bright that it burned my eyes just to look at it. There was something weird about it, too. I don't know what it was, but it felt…strange."

"Strange how?" Elaine asked.

"I can't quite describe it, but it had a sense of power to it. Not like a regular meteorite. Not only that, but I saw that it landed somewhere in the distance. In fact, I think landed close to the Great Valley."

"Really?" Aylene blinked. "That sounds interesting."

It was at that moment that a strong, gruff voice spoke up.

"What's going on here?!"

Everyone turned sharply around to see Topps walking towards them. Cera took one look at her father and shrunk back a bit. Derek, who was sitting next to her, put his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. She looked at him straight in the face, and he gave her a small nod and wink.

Topps stopped just a few feet away from the group, and his attention immediately turned to Doc.

"Who is this?" he asked harshly. "Are you bothering our kids?"

Doc narrowed his eyes defensively. Already, he wasn't pleased by this Triceratops's aggressive disposition.

Elaine got up from her spot, cool as a cucumber, and walked over Topps.

"Mr. Threehorn," she said graciously, "this is my friend, Doc. He was passing through the Valley and happened to run into us."

Topps glared suspiciously at Elaine, but the human woman didn't even flinch. She just maintained eye contact with him.

"Daddy, it's true!" Cera spoke up.

Topps immediately turned his attention to his daughter. She swallowed hard the moment he looked at her.

"Cera, where have you been?!" he asked, raising his voice a bit. "You were supposed to be watching the twins!"

"I-I know." Cera stuttered nervously. "But I…I mean…"

It was then that Derek got up from his spot and stood beside Cera.

"Please understand, Topps," he said calmly, "Cera just needed some alone-time for a while. We all need some time to ourselves. She just needed some time to clear her head, then she was going to take care of the twins."

"Is that true, Cera?" Topps asked his daughter, lowing his tone.

"Yes, Daddy." Cera replied, nodding her head quickly. "It's just as he said."

"I see." Topps sighed heavily. "Okay, but from now on, let me know before you wander off on your own. After all, it is your duty to watch the twins, understood?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"Now, c'mon. It's late."

Without another word, Topps turned away and began to walk away.

"Right. C'mon Dinah, Dana."

The two twins laughed as they ran after Cera. As they walked away, Cera looked back over her shoulder to Derek.

 _"Thanks,"_ she mouthed to him.

 _"No problem."_ Derek mouthed back.

Aylene noticed the subtle exchange. She walked up to her brother and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Derek, what was that all about?" she asked.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Derek replied, stretching his arms. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm about ready to turn in. I say we call it a day for now."

"Good idea." Petrie yawned. "Me tired. See you tomorrow."

With that, Petrie spread his wings and flew off towards his home.

"I'm tired, too." Ducky said sleepily. "C'mon Spike. Let's go home."

Spike gave a small groan as he nodded in agreement. Ducky hoisted herself up onto his neck, and he began to walk away from the group.

"I guess it's our turn." Derek shrugged. "Let's get back."

"Hey Doc," Littlefoot said eagerly, "why don't you come back with us? I want to introduce you to Grandma and Grandpa."

"Thanks, kid, but I think I'll pass." Doc said dryly.

"But Doc…" Littlefoot whined.

"Doc just needs some time alone, Littlefoot." Elaine explained. "But there's always tomorrow. How about we wait until then, okay?"

Littlefoot opened his mouth to try and protest. But he immediately closed it when he realized that Elaine had a point. Slowly, he nodded.

"Okay." Aylene piped up. "Now that that's settled, let's get back to the nest and get some sleep. Tomorrow's a new day, after all."

Littlefoot looked over at his friend and smiled. There was no way he could stay gloomy when his best friend was so optimistic.

As Littlefoot, Aylene and Derek all walked away, Doc let out a long, deep breath.

"Their good kids," he said with a small grin. "Overly curious, but good."

"You're just relieved that the days over so that you can have some space." Elaine teased.

Doc grunted in response.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Elaine waved.

"Hmph, good-night Elaine."

With that, Elaine walked away. Doc settled down in his little space and soon fell asleep.

* * *

 _At the base of a large, stone landmark that was in the shape of a sauropod, two large predatory dinosaurs were locked in a violent battle. One was a tannish-red Allosaurus, and the other was an olive-green Tyrannosaurus Rex._

 _The aura of the nighttime added an ominous vibe to their fight. The full moon shone down a silvery light, and reflected in the menacing eyes of the fighting predators._

 ** _"I told you this is my turf!"_** _the Allosaurus roared at his opponent._

 ** _"I was here first!"_** _the T-Rex bellowed._ _ **"So either get lost, or I'll take you down!"**_

 _The Allosaurus didn't back down. Instead, he charged forward towards his opponent and rammed his head into the center of the T-Rex's chest. The T-Rex gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, and he stumbled back a bit. As soon as he recovered, he scowled at the Allosaurus. He opened his mighty jaws and moved in to bit down on his enemy's neck._

 _The Allosaurus moved out of the way just in time. He retaliated and jumped up to land on the T-Rex's back. The T-Rex thrashed and moved about wildly to get the wicked biter off of him. Thinking quickly, he rushed forward and slammed the Allosaurus up against the giant sauropod rock._

 _The shockwave of the attack rushed up the rock and caused one of the loose stones near the base of the neck to waver._

 _The T-Rex slammed up against the rock again, causing the Allosaurus to let go of him and fall to the ground._

 _At the same time, the loose stone broke free from the rest of the rock and fell towards the earth below._

 _Both biters halted and looked up to see the rock coming straight towards them. They each darted away in opposite directions just as the rock came crashing to the ground, where it instantly broke apart into smaller pieces._

 _At the same time, a small, pulsing light penetrated the darkness of the night. The two biters looked up at the spot where the rock had once been, and saw something unusual._

 _A strange, eerily blue light was glowing from the hole._

 _Suddenly, the light pulsated even brighter for a second. It seemed to send a small wave throughout both the earth and sky._

 _For a moment, there was silence._

 _Then, to the two predators shock, the earth began to tremble. It started as a small rumble, but it quickly grew and grew into a mighty force. The ground beneath their very feet shook violently, causing the trees nearby to sway and totter. Some even uprooted and fell to the ground._

 _The two predators panicked at the sudden turn of events and immediately fled away from the scene to find shelter._

* * *

Aylene's eyes snapped opened as the ground beneath her vibrated suddenly.

Beside her, Littlefoot woke up in a fright as he felt the earthquake. Simply out of reaction, Aylene clutched at Littlefoot, and he wrapped his neck protectively around her. All around them, the land trembled and rumbled with such a tremendous force that it caused several trees around them to topple over.

The sound of herds across the Valley could be heard as the earthquake roused them from their slumber. Rocks from the Great Wall came tumbling down to the Valley below, and the waters in the lakes and rivers splashed around wildly.

Then, just as soon as it had started, the earthquake ended.

For a moment, a stunned silence spread throughout the entire Great Valley.

Aylene swallowed hard and took in a few deep breaths to calm her rapidly beating heart. The nerves in her body tingle with shock, but slowly began to settle back down as the danger had passed.

"You okay, Littlefoot?" she asked, shakily.

"Y-Yeah." Littlefoot replied, just as shaken up as she was. "That was quite an earthquake."

"No kidding." Aylene exhaled deeply.

"Hey, are you guys okay?"

Aylene and Littlefoot looked up to see Derek running over to them. Close behind him was Grandma and Grandpa Longneck, and Elaine. All of them had a slightly disturbed glint in their eyes. The earthquake took them by surprise, too.

"Yeah, we're okay." Aylene replied. "Geez, that was unexpected."

"Well, we can't predict when earthquakes will happen, now can we?" Elaine said heavily. The sudden earthquake nearly gave her a heartattack before.

"Well, the good thing is that no one got hurt." Grandma Longneck said. "From what I could tell, that wasn't a deadly earthquake."

"Just in case, let's go and check on everyone." Grandpa Longneck said to his wife. "The rest of you stay here and try to settle down. We'll be back soon."

"Okay, Grandpa." Littlefoot nodded.

Aylene watched as the two elderly Apatosaurus's walked away.

What she didn't notice was that the stone around her neck gave a faint glow. It happened so fast that neither she, nor anyone else around her, noticed.


	8. Chapter 7: Turbulent of Misfortune

**Turbulent of Misfortune**

Shortly after Grandpa and Grandma Longneck had left, the ground began to shake from heavy footfalls. Aylene looked over and saw a large shadow coming towards the nesting ground. It took her a second to realize who it was.

"Doc?"

The old Diplodocus walked up towards the group.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked.

"We're fine, Doc." Elaine replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. You know that a little earthquake never hurt me."

"Yes, of course."

"Well, that's good." Littlefoot sighed with relief. "Still, I wouldn't call that earthquake little."

"No kidding." Derek said. "And it just came out of nowhere."

Doc narrowed his eyes pensively.

"That's just the thing," he said suspiciously. "Something about that earthquake was off."

"What do you mean?" Littlefoot asked.

"I can't quite explain it, but I've experienced many earthquakes in my lifetime. They all range in destructive power, but they all follow the same pattern. But not this one."

Upon hearing that, Aylene brought her hand up to her chin and thought for a moment.

"Now that you mention it," she mumbled, "it was kind of strange. While earthquakes do happen out of nowhere, but there's usually a build-up to it. But this one…It was like the earth just shook."

"Well, earthquakes happen when the tectonic plates below shift and change." Derek explained. "But for this one, it's more like the surface just shook for no reason. There was no build-up, no warning, nothing. It just…shook."

Littlefoot blinked in half-confusion. Once again, Derek was using vocabulary so foreign that the long-neck didn't understand much of what he was said. He looked up at Doc with an expression that asked if he understood what the humans were saying. Doc simply looked down at Littlefoot with his classic stoic face, and just shrugged.

Luckily for both of the Sauropods, they had spent enough time with humans to pick up a little bit of the vernacular they were speaking.

"So, you're basically saying that this wasn't a normal earthquake." Littlefoot said to the humans.

"Yeah, basically." Aylene answered. "We should check on the rest of the Valley. I got a bad feeling about this one."

"We'll do that tomorrow." Elaine said. "Grandma and Grandpa Longneck are already checking on everyone. Besides, it'll be morning soon. We might as well get some sleep in the meantime."

"That sounds like the best idea for now." Doc said. "I'll come back in the morning."

Without another word, Doc turned around and walked away.

"Doc, wait!" Littlefoot called out.

"Don't worry, Littlefoot." Elaine smiled. "This is normal for him. To be honest, I'm glad he hasn't changed that much."

"Anyway, Grandma's right." Derek yawned. "We'll rally the Gang and investigate this in the morning. But right, I for one am too tired to think about this any further."

"Okay." Aylene sighed heavily. She hated to admit it, but she was still feeling tired, too. Not to mention, the sudden scare from the earthquake made her even more exhausted.

The best thing that she and the others could do was rest up for tomorrow.

* * *

The very next day, Littlefoot, Aylene, and Derek rounded up the Gang to talk about what happened last night. While they did that, Elaine went to check on Doc again.

Aylene rode on Littlefoot's back as the two of them went to get Cera and the twins. Derek went on foot to find Ducky, Spike, and Petrie. The plan was to meet up at the clubhouse so they could discuss about what happened last night.

After they had talked to Cera, Littlefoot and Aylene began to make their way to the clubhouse. Cera had told them to go on ahead because she was now under restriction, and had to talk to her father before she went off on her own again. While her punishment wasn't as severe as it could've been thanks to Derek's intervention, she wasn't let off the hook completely either, much to her annoyance.

"So, what do you think?" Littlefoot asked.

"About Cera's predicament?" Aylene questioned.

"No," Littlefoot shook his head, "about that earthquake last night. What do you think caused it?"

"I really don't know." Aylene shrugged. "All I know is that it wasn't like any normal earthquake."

"Well, if you don't know, and Derek and your grandmother don't know, then how are we going to figure it out?"

"I'm sure we'll come up with something."

It was then that both Littlefoot and Aylene began to hear the sounds of worried murmurs. Curious, they followed the sounds, and soon found themselves walking towards a group of adult plant eaters. Among them was Littlefoot's grandparents, Cera's father, and Petrie's mother. They were all standing around a large watering hole.

Or rather, what was left of a large watering hole.

To Aylene and Littlefoot's shock, all of the water in the pond was completely dried up.

"This is serious, Longneck." Topps said to Grandpa Longneck. "What could make the watering place dry up like this?"

"Hmm," Grandpa Longneck frowned thoughtfully, "perhaps last night's earthquake moved it under the ground."

The theory set off a chain reaction of worried whispering among the adults. Littlefoot and Aylene exchanged concerned glances. They both had an eerie sense of déjà vu as this reminded them of the incident with Thundering Falls. When the waterfall was blocked up, nearly all of the rivers and lakes dried up.

Was the same thing happening again?

"Please," Grandpa Longneck raised his voice, trying to restore order, "please, everyone. Calm down. There is still plenty of water in the Great Valley."

"Yes, but this watering place was the coolest and the clearest." Topps argued.

"Oh, why did it have to be the one that dried up?" a female duck-billed dinosaur complained.

"Very bad luck if you ask me," a male duck-bill replied heavily.

"Bad luck?" Littlefoot whispered to himself.

"C'mon, let's meet up with the others." Aylene said.

"Okay."

Without another word, Littlefoot quickened his pace and carried Aylene towards the direction of the rendezvous point.

* * *

About half an hour later, Cera came running towards the clubhouse, with the twins following close behind her. Her father had given her permission to go and meet up with her friends, but only under the condition that she would take Dinah and Dana with her. As much as she hated the idea, she didn't put up an argument this time. She just wanted to meet up with her friends as soon as possible.

Once she had arrived, Littlefoot and Aylene filled her in on the details about the watering hole drying up, and about the conversation they had with Doc last night.

"Well, looks like we got a situation here." Derek said, folding his arms across his front.

"What do you mean?" Cera asked. "So, there was an earthquake and it swallowed up a watering hole. Stuff like that isn't too unusual."

"Haven't you been paying attention?" Aylene asked, frowning. "We all agreed that the earthquake last night wasn't normal. I don't know about you guys, but I get the feeling that something weird is going on here."

"I agree." Littlefoot said. "If nothing else, we should at least try and investigate it."

"But what we do?" Petrie asked.

"Well, we could start by looking around the Valley."

"But what are we supposed to be looking for?" Ducky said, tilting her head in curiosity.

Spike gave a questioning groan.

"I don't know." Littlefoot admitted. "But…I'm sure we'll know it when we see it."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Aylene nodded. "It's better than just sitting around and doing nothing. So, you guys in."

"I'm game." Derek shrugged. "Might as well. I suggest we split up into teams though. It'll make the search easier."

"Then you're coming with me." Cera ordered the human boy. "You gotta help me take care of the twins."

"Derry join with us!" Dinah said happily.

"Join us!" Dana chimed in.

Derek gave a weak smile. It wasn't the idea of going with the twins that make him uncomfortable. It was the fact that Dinah called him "Derry". It just sounded…wrong.

And it didn't help when Aylene started to snicker.

""Derry", huh?" she teased. "Maybe I should start calling you that."

Derek shot an annoyed look at his little sister. "Don't you dare!"

"Relax, I'm just kidding."

"Yeah, well, let's get back to our plan of action." Littlefoot interrupted, grinning nervously.

In a matter of minutes, the Gang divided up into three search groups: Derek, Cera, and the twins; Petrie, Ducky, and Spike; and Aylene and Littlefoot. Their plan was to use the rest of the day to search around as much as the Great Valley as they could, and see if there was anything out of the ordinary. Whether that would be something out of place, or something that could've been affected by the earthquake as well. In the evening, they would meet up and report if they found anything.

At first, their search was mundane and quiet. Aside from some toppled over rocks and trees, there wasn't anything that they could consider out of the ordinary. At least nothing that they wouldn't see after any ordinary earthquake.

After a while, even Aylene started to think this search was a lost cause.

"You know, Littlefoot," she sighed heavily, "maybe this is a waste of time."

"We can't give up yet, Aylene." Littlefoot said. "I'm sure we can find something."

"I'm not saying we should give up. But it would be helpful if we at least had a clue as to what we were looking for. Because right now, we're pretty much going into this blind."

"Yeah, you do have a point." Littlefoot frowned. "But what else can we do?"

Aylene fell silent for a moment to think. She flinched as she felt something cold and wet hit her face.

It was a that moment that she realized something. The wind that had been a light breeze earlier in the day was beginning to grow stronger. On top of that, the light was getting dimmer.

Aylene looked up to the sky and saw a bunch of dark gray cloud clustering together. From those clouds, droplets of rain began to fall.

But most of all, something about all this felt strange. Aylene couldn't quite describe it, but this shift in weather didn't feel natural.

"What the…"

"Aylene, what's wrong?" Littlefoot asked, turning his head to look at her.

It was then that Littlefoot saw a small pulsation of light.

"Aylene, you're Stone!"

Aylene jolted when her friend suddenly shriek. She then looked down at the Time Stone around her neck, and caught her breath in shock.

Her Time Stone was glowing. It was rapidly pulsating a light, like it was a beating heart.

No sooner did Aylene realize this that the wind around her and Littlefoot began to increase. Aylene was almost completely knocked off of Littlefoot, and he was nearly blown over. Littlefoot quickly planted his feet firmly on the ground to stabilize himself, and Aylene lowered herself down closer to his back. The wind began to pick up strength, as if it wanted to blow the Apatosaurus and human away. The rain began to fall in torrents, splashing the two of them with large, heavy drops.

"What's going on?!" Littlefoot yelled, trying to get his voice up over the turbulence of the wind.

"Oh, no." Aylene's face turned white. She knew exactly what this was. She had experienced enough of these in her lifetime to know what this weather and wind potentially meant.

And by the looks of it, that might just happen.

"Aylene, what's happening?!"

"Littlefoot, we gotta find the others and get find some shelter!" Aylene cried. "This is the perfect weather for a tornado!"

"A tornado?!" Littlefoot shrieked.

Aylene slipped off of Littlefoot's back.

"We won't find the others in time if we stay together!" she ordered. "I'll go find my brother and Cera, you go look for Ducky's group!"

"No! Aylene, it's too dangerous!"

"Don't worry, I've grown up in a region where tornados are common in the summer! I know what to do! Just find the other and find a sturdy shelter!"

Littlefoot hesitated. He didn't like this idea at all, but Aylene did have a point. If they didn't split up, they wouldn't find the others in time.

"Just be careful, okay!" the long-neck said, his eyes showing his worry.

"You, too!" Aylene replied.

With that, Littlefoot and Aylene went their separate ways, fighting against the wind and rain.

However, what Aylene didn't tell Littlefoot was her second, and actual reason, for separating herself from him. Clutching the pulsating Time Stone in her hand, she struggled against the rising storm. If there was one thing she knew about the Time Stone, it was that it was unpredictable.

"This has something to do with the storm, I just know it is!" Aylene said to herself. "But why now?! Oh, I'll figure that out later! I've gotta find the others, and then find a place to wait out the storm! I just hope I have enough time!"


	9. Chapter 8: The Storm

**The Storm**

The rising storm attracted the attention of everyone in the Great Valley. As soon as the wind began to blow, herds immediately began to make their way to whatever shelter they could find. Most of them had already taken refuge inside a large fortress-like stone formation in a corner of the Valley. The larger dinosaurs like the long-necks, spike-tails, and three-horns were able to withstand the harsh winds. Many of them were sent out to find anyone who were stranded/.

Among the search party was Grandpa Longneck. Worried about his grandson, he ran across the Valley as fast as he could.

"LITTLEFOOT! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Unfortunately, Grandpa Longneck couldn't hear anything above the roar of the storm, nor see through the torrents of rain. Even as the young Apatosaurus was walking by, just a few meters away from him. The wind and rain were causing too much noise and visual distortion for either one of them to hear each other, let alone see each other.

"GUYS, WHERE ARE YOU!" Littlefoot yelled.

Littlefoot was so focused on trying to see through the storm that he didn't notice the wet grass underneath his feet. Before the long-neck knew what was happening, he slipped and fell on his side. He screamed as he slid down a small hill and came crashing down against a large boulder.

Littlefoot groaned. The collision shot pain through his side, and caused his sense to become disoriented for a moment. He struggled to get to his feet, but the wind continued to give him difficulty.

And it was only going to get worse.

Littlefoot had just managed to get up, when he got a terrible shock.

A giant funnel of swirling wind shot down from the clouds and began to move across the Valley towards him, tearing up trees and bushes.

Littlefoot let out a small shriek of terror. There was no way he could outrun a natural disaster like that. In just a matter of seconds, it would sweep him up and carry him away.

However, just as it was about to reach him, something large appeared and put itself between him and the tornado.

"HANG ON, KID!"

Littlefoot gasped. He knew that voice.

Doc and Elaine had appeared just in time. While Doc laid himself flat down on the ground and curled his neck protectively around Littlefoot, Elaine moved towards him and forced him down to the ground as well.

"KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!" she ordered. "IT'LL BE OVER SOON!"

Littlefoot shut his eyes and waited for the tornado to pass on. All the while, the small group became buried under a heap of broken trees, branches, and small stones.

* * *

 _Moments earlier…_

"THIS WAY, GUYS!" Derek shouted above the raging storm.

As soon as the storm began to rise, Derek, Cera, and the twins turned around to look for the others. They managed to find Ducky, Petrie, and Spike just before the rain began to fall. The small group was now making their way towards the shelter, fighting against the raging winds and blinding splashes of rain with all they had. Petrie and Ducky were nearly blown away on a large gust. Fearing for the flyer and swimmer's safety, Derek carried both of them in one of his arms. With his other arm, he used a large, thick stick to help him trudge through the wind.

"WHAT'S GOING ON, DEREK?!" Cera screamed. It was the only she and the others could communicate with each other.

"WE'RE IN FOR A TORNADO STORM!" Derek replied. "WE'VE GOT TO FIND SHELTER AND FAST!"

"ARE WE GOING TO BE OKAY?!" Ducky cried, scared.

"DON'T WORRY, WE'LL BE FINE!"

"BUT LITTLEFOOT AND AYLENE STILL OUT THERE!" Petrie fretted.

"AYLENE KNOWS WHAT TO DO!" Derek assured. "WE LIVE IN TORNADO ALLEY! THEY'LL BE FINE!"

The group continued on. The storm fought them back relentlessly, but they still pressed on. They were tired, soaked, and afraid, but they kept going. Their survival instincts forced them to seek out shelter.

That is until Cera suddenly shouted out,

"OH, NO! WHERE ARE THE TWINS!"

The Gang stopped and turned back around. To their horror, Dinah and Dana were nowhere to be seen.

When did they get separated from the group? How long were they gone?

"I'LL GO BACK AND LOOK FOR THEM!" Derek said. "YOU GUYS GET TO THE SHELTER!"

"NO, DEREK!" Cera replied. "I'LL GO BACK AND LOOK FOR THEM! YOU GET EVERYONE TO THE SHELTER!"

"I CAN'T LEAVE YOU BY YOURSELF, CERA!" Derek argued.

"I'LL BE FINE!" Cera yelled back. "DADDY'S RIGHT! THE TWINS ARE MY RESPONSIBILITY! YOU JUST GET EVERYONE TO SAFETY!"

Derek hesitated for a second. He looked over at Ducky, Petrie, and Spike. All three of them were just as concerned about the situation as he was. They were also terrified of the storm that was growing stronger by the minute.

Finally, the human boy let out a big huff.

"YOU JUST BE CAREFUL, CERA!" he ordered. "KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR TORNADOS! IF YOU SEE ONE, HEAD FOR THE NEAREST DITCH! STAY DOWN UNTIL IT'S OVER!"

"YEAH, I GOT IT!" Cera yelled. "NOW MOVE IT!"

Without a second thought, Cera set out in her quest to save the two Triceratops. She could barely hear Ducky and Petrie calling to her, but she kept going.

"Cera." Derek whispered to himself. "We better see you again."

With that, Derek urged the group on once again. He just had to keep telling himself that Cera was going to be fine. Even when that little voice in his head kept haunting him about her safety being slim, he forced himself to shove it out of his mind.

The last thing he should do was lose hope. For Cera, for Aylene, for anyone. For everyone's sake, he had to keep hope.

* * *

Terrified and struggling, Dinah and Dana trudged up the hill. They had completely lost sight of Cera shortly after Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were found. When the storm began to gain force, the two of them became horribly lost.

Thanks to their small size, they were able to fight against the wind a little better. But the rain kept splattering in their eyes, making it hard for them to see. What's more, the stronger the wind got, the more debris began to fly at them. They were almost flattened by several large rocks and bushes within the span of five minutes.

And it was only getting worse. More rocks, bushes, and trees were starting to be blown around.

Dinah and Dana started to cry when they realized just how lost they were. None of their friends were around. They were all alone in this storm.

Just as they thought this, a shape appeared before them. They looked up, almost expecting see a large boulder. However, what they saw made them give gasps of surprise and hope.

"HANG ON! AUNTIE CERA'S HERE!"

Dinah and Dana's faces lit up. Like a ray of hope in the darkness, Cera was standing right in front of them. Just seeing her was enough to lift their spirits. They found the strength to get up and keep going.

Cera walked beside the twins as they fought against the storm together, shielding them from the harsh winds as best she could. She was scared of the storm herself, but did the best she could to master her fear. She was the older one here. She had to be strong. She had to be brave, for the sake of the twins.

Right now, all she had to focus on was getting the twins and herself to the shelter in one piece.

Suddenly, up in the sky, the clouds began to morph and change again. They spiraled together, making a kind of funnel. Then down from that funnel, just several meters away from them, a large tornado began to form. Already it began to tear up the grass and trees, and it was moving closer.

The twins began to cry in terror as that horrible funnel of wind approached them. Cera let out a small scream. For a split second, her mind went blank, and she couldn't think of what to do. Luckily, she recovered in time to remember what Derek had told her moments ago.

Hastily, she snapped her head in all directions. About three feet away to her right was a deep ditch.

"DINAH, DANA, IN THERE! HURRY!"

Cera pushed the twins down into the ditch. As soon as she jumped in and pressed them flat down into the ground, the tornado that was pursuing them passed over them. They could feel the force of the wind weighing down on them, like it was trying to pull them out. Thankfully, the walls of the ditch were tall enough to shield them from the twister.

It also protected them from the debris that was slowly gathering over them.

"It's gonna be fine!" Cera said to herself. "It's gonna be fine! It's gonna be fine!"

* * *

 _Moments before…_

Aylene fought her way through the storm. Her attempts to find her brother and friends turned up empty, and she soon found herself wander around aimlessly. The Time Stone in her hand was now pulsating violently. It was like it was responding to the intensity of the storm itself.

"I hope the others are okay," she said. "I gotta find shelter now before it's too late."

The Time Stone pulsated again, and Aylene got a nasty shock.

Before she could even guess what was happening, a tornado suddenly shot down from the sky several feet away from her!

Aylene screamed loudly as the violent winds threatened to pull her in. Thinking quickly, she fell flat on the grass and covered her head with her hands. She trembled as she felt the tornado move past her. The pressure of the wind was almost crushing, and the sound made her hears hurt.

Aylene had experienced tornado warnings before, but she had never actually encountered one. It was one of the most terrifying things she had ever felt in her life. This was a force that she couldn't fight against. It was so huge and invincible that it made her feel tiny.

It had been a long time since she had felt fear like this. The only thing she could do was just lay flat down and not move a muscle, and hope that she would make it through this storm.

The tornado moved on, but it left all the rocks and trees it had torn up behind. Before Aylene had the chance to recover, a bunch of debris flew straight at her. She didn't have time to move away from it all. All she could do was scream.

Just before it all crushed her, a bright green bubble of light surrounded her. Then, it was buried underneath a huge mound of torn-up rocks and trees.

* * *

The storm raged on for what seemed like an eternity. Tornados tore through the Valley with ruthless force, and the rain continued to fall from the sky with no mercy.

Then, as quickly as it came, it all dissipated. All of the tornados went back up into the clouds, and those clouds ceased their rainfall.

Slowly, the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds.

For a while, everything was silent and still. Not even a tiny breath of air could be heard.


	10. Chapter 9: Found and Discover

**Found and Discover**

When all was calm, the residence of the Great Valley all crept out of their hiding places. All of them were still shocked and trembling from the sudden tornado attacks. It was like they could still feel the horrible aura the whirling winds left behind.

For some, there was an awful feeling of anxiety and dread.

The moment they realized the storm had run its course, Topps and Derek were out of the fortress-like rock in less time than it took to blink. Topps' face was painted with worry, and Derek had gone as white as paper.

"CERA! CERA!"

"AYLENE! GRANDMA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Derek scanned the valley with wide eyes. The disaster was worse than he had expected. Trees had either been broken off near the base, torn up from the ground completely, and scattered across the land. Large boulders have tumbled down off the Great Wall. Bushes and flowers were uprooted and blown in all directions. There were piles upon piles of debris that were mixed with logs, shrubs, and rocks.

Derek felt sick with worry. What if his grandmother and sister were buried underneath one of those piles?

As he considered that, a voice came from behind.

"Derek!"

Derek turned around quickly and looked up.

"Grandpa Longneck!" he exclaimed. "Have you seen Aylene or my grandma?!"

"No, I haven't!" Grandpa Longneck replied, his voice full of anxiety. "Have you seen Littlefoot?!"

Derek shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he said sadly. "I haven't seen him."

Grandpa Longneck's face changed to very distressed.

"Oh, I do hope he's safe."

"I'm sure he's fine," Derek said, trying to sound positive. "You know he and Aylene have survived worse than this."

Grandpa Longneck looked down at the human boy and nodded. However, he couldn't bring himself to smile. He was too fearful for his grandson's life to smile.

Suddenly one of the piles of debris that was a few feet away shifted and moved. Derek and Grandpa Longneck quickly snapped their eyes over just in time to see a huge figure rise up out of it.

It was Doc.

The logs and rocks rolled off of him like rain drops, and he shook off the bushes like they were strains of grass. Down at his feet, shielded from all the rubble by his massive size, were Littlefoot and Elaine.

"Grandma!" Derek shouted in relief.

Elaine turned to see her grandson running towards her at full speed. A joyful smiled spread across her face.

"Oh, Derek!"

As soon as Derek reached his grandmother, the two embraced each other tightly.

"Oh, thank goodness," Elaine whispered.

At the same time, Littlefoot ran towards his grandfather. Grandpa Longneck lowered his head down to the young Apatosaurus' level and nuzzled him.

"Oh, Littlefoot," he sighed with relief. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Grandpa," Littlefoot replied. "Doc and Elaine saved me. If it wasn't for them, I…"

Littlefoot shuddered. He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. It was too terrifying for him to even consider the worst possible outcome.

Grandpa Longneck raised his head to look Doc in the eye.

"I thank you, again," he bowed respectfully.

"Ah, lucky break," Doc replied dryly.

Elaine looked at her friend with a knowing grin.

"You still don't know how to accept gratitude," she teased.

Doc glanced down at Elaine and made a face.

At that moment, Littlefoot suddenly jolted in alarm.

"Grandpa, have you seen Aylene?!" he asked.

"No, Littlefoot," Grandpa Longneck replied.

As soon as they heard Aylene's name, both Derek and Elaine turned to the little long-neck. Their faces quickly changed from joyful to fretful.

"She was with you!" Derek stated.

"Yeah, she was," Littlefoot replied. "But when the storm started, she said that we should split up and find you and the others. Her Time Stone started acting all funny and—"

As soon as those words left Littlefoot's mouth, his eyes widened. He stared at Derek. He could tell that the human had come to the same conclusion he did.

"She wouldn't!"

"We gotta find her!" Derek said, completely stressed.

Elaine looked up at Doc. She didn't have to say a word. The moment they made eye-contact, he nodded agreement.

The group then immediately started their search for the missing human girl.

* * *

"CERA! CERA!"

Topps was frantically searching all over for his missing daughter. He hadn't forgotten about Dinah or Dana, but Cera was the main concern. And after seeing the damage the tornados had done to the Valley, he didn't dare think about the worst possible outcome.

Fortunately, he was not alone in his search. Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were close behind him, trying to find any clues that would lead them to their Triceratops friend.

"Oh, me no like this." Petrie whined. "We still not find them."

"I'm sure she's fine, Petrie." Ducky said. "You know that Cera is tough, and she wouldn't let anything happen to the twins."

Spike sniffed the air intently. He grunted in surprise when his nose picked up a familiar scent. Without hesitation, he changed direction and ran towards a patch of broken tree branches and torn up bushes.

"What is it, Spike?" Ducky asked, concerned.

Spike turned back to his adopted sister and pointed to the debris with urgency. He then began to dig and push away the pile of sticks and bramble.

At that moment, three familiar voice called out from underneath.

"Spike, is that you?! We're under here!"

"Ussie here!"

"Help!"

Spike began to call out in the only way that he could.

"He found them!" Petrie screeched in delight.

As soon as Topps heard that the little spike-tail had found where his daughter was, he bounded over without a second though. Spike stepped aside to let the elder dinosaur through. With one giant heave, Topps removed all of the debris, and found himself staring down into a small ditch.

At the bottom of it, shaken but unharmed, was Cera, Dinah, and Dana.

"Daddy!" Cera shouted with joy.

"Oh, Cera!" Topps said with intense relief. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine."

Topps lowered his head into the ditch. Cera lifted Dinah and Dana up onto his snout, and he pulled them out. He was about to go back for Cera, but she had already hoisted herself out thanks to Spikes help.

"Cera! You're okay!" Ducky happily exclaimed, running over and hugging the three-horn's foreleg.

"Yeah, somehow." Cera sighed heavily.

Cera turned to her father and ran over to receive a heart-felt nuzzle from him.

"Thanks goodness you're all safe." Topps said.

"Don't worry, Daddy." Cera replied. "We're fine."

Dinah and Dana ran over. The smiles on their faces told everyone that they had completely forgotten about the peril of the storm but had not forgotten the bravery of the one who rescued them.

"Cerrie ussie blowie no no!"

"Whoosh!"

Topps let out a proud chuckle. He understood what the twins had said, and it filled him with so much pride and happiness.

"Yes, it is good that Cera didn't let you blow away."

He turned to his daughter, and said in a warm voice, "Cera, I'm very proud of you."

Cera's face lit up at those words, and she nuzzled her father again.

However, the joy of the moment was short-lived. At that moment, Littlefoot and Derek came running over the hill.

"Cera! Guys!"

Everyone turned their attention to the approaching long-neck and human. They all became concerned the moment they saw the two in a state of anxiety.

"Is everyone okay?" Derek asked.

"We're fine." Ducky replied. "But are you guys okay? And where's Aylene?"

"We got separated!" Littlefoot explained, unable to hide his worry. "We were hoping she was with you! We gotta find her fast! She could be hurt!"

"Then let's get going!" Cera ordered. "C'mon!"

Topps and the twins watched at Cera ran off with the rest of the Gang. Once they had disappeared over the hill, the elder Triceratops began a search of his own with the both Dinah and Dana following close behind him.

* * *

 _"What's going on here? Where am I?"_

 _Aylene, disoriented and confused, found herself walking out of a forest. As she looked around, she felt a strange sense of familiarity from her surrounds, yet she knew that she had never been to this place before. The trees, the smells, the air, all of it was so familiar, and yet so foreign._

 _A pulsating blue light from high above came out of the corner of her eye. Aylene turned sharply and found herself staring up at a massive rock structure. It was roughly in the shape of a long-neck dinosaur, and it towered over her like one._

 _However, what caught her attention was an opening in the circle of teeth around its neck. A blue light was shining from it, glowing and fading with the rhythm of a beating heart. Aylene narrowed her eyes, zooming her vision in on the light as much as she could._

 _It looked like some kind of stone._

 _"Wait, a large rock in the shape of a long-neck? Is this…Saurus Rock?"_

 _It was then that Aylene felt something around her neck move. She looked down and gasped as her Time Stone glowed and lifted itself up. With wide eyes, she watched it hover in mid-air, and saw that it was beginning to pulsate again. Aylene then looked up at the giant rock again, then back down at her stone._

 _The Time Stone was shining just like the stone in Saurus Rock. It was also pointing up at the stone like a magnet._

 _"Wait?" Aylene whispered. "Does this mean that-?"_

 _Suddenly, a chink of rock around the large, glowing stone, fell away from Saurus Rock. A huge flash came from the stone, making Aylene stumble back and shut her eyes. At the exact same time, the Time Stone around her neck flashed a brilliant emerald light._

 _When Aylene opened her eyes again, she gasped. Saurus Rock was rapidly moving away from her. She watched and the land rushed by her, almost like she was inside of a moving car, watching as the scenery passed by her window._

 _She saw a forest of tall redwood trees, a giant canyon that split the land like a gash, a mountain range, the Great Valley, total darkness…_

 _Then, the earth below Aylene shook violently._

* * *

Aylene woke up with a start as the ground vibrated. She laid where she was for a good fifteen seconds as the tremor ran its course. When the earthquake came to a stop, Aylene took in several deep breaths to calm her nerves and recollect her senses.

As soon as she could think clearly again, Aylene lifted herself up to her knees. She blinked in surprise when she saw that she surrounded by a green bubble of energy. On the outside of it was a mound of torn up trees, brambles, and boulders.

"That's right," she said to herself. "I was caught up in the storm."

Aylene looked down at the sword around her waist. She grabbed the hilt with her right hand and pulled it just a few inches out of its scabbard. The blade was shining like a star, and the girl could feel a powerful aura resonating from it. Aylene sighed with relief and smiled.

"Thanks, Fierce Loyalty. You really saved me this time."

Aylene then looked up.

"Now I just need to get out of here. Then, I gotta find the others. Oh, I sure hope they're okay."

Aylene stood up. She gripped the hilt of her sword and drew it.

"Well, here goes. Fierce Loyalty, don't fail me now."

* * *

Littlefoot nearly jumped out of his skin when a beam of green light suddenly appeared from a pile of debris just yards away from him. He was already recovering from the sudden earthquake that happened minutes ago, and that light nearly made his heart stop beating.

However, once the initial shock was gone, his fright disappeared as quickly as it came.

Another beam of light shot from the pile, splitting the trees and rocks. There was a moment of silence before another appeared, slicing through the rumble.

Then, with one final streak, the pile broke apart and fell away to reveal a bubble of energy.

The bubble faded away to reveal a human girl collapsing to her knees.

"AYLENE!" Littlefoot cried.

The Apatosaurus ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He clambered up and over a large tree trunk, nearly slipping and falling on his side, and rushed to his friend's side. Aylene was on her hands and knees, panting heavily for air. Her eyes were wide with shock and awe, and her gaze was locked on her sword. She didn't even seem to be aware of Littlefoot's presence.

"I didn't know it could do that," she wheezed. "This sword is really something."

"Aylene, are you alright?!"

Aylene blinked, somewhat stupefied, and looked up at Littlefoot. As soon as she saw him, she let out a cry of relief and hugged her friend tightly. Littlefoot wrapped his long neck around the human girl, sharing her relief and joy.

"Oh, Littlefoot!" Aylene exclaimed. "Am I glad to see you! Are you okay?!"

"I'm okay," Littlefoot replied. "What about you?"

Aylene let go of Littlefoot and leaned back on her feet.

"I'm okay," she said. "I just didn't see that coming. This sword is full of surprises."

Aylene held up her sword. It had lost its glow, and returned to its normal olive-green color.

"You mean Fierce Loyalty did that?!" Littlefoot said, looking at the strange sword with disbelief.

"Yeah. I just gave it a good swing, and "SLICE"! Cut through the trees and rocks like butter!"

Littlefoot's eyes went big, and his mouth dropped wide open.

He was about to ask a question when Aylene suddenly stood up and sheathed her sword.

"What about the others?" she asked. "Are they alright?"

"Y-Yeah," the long-neck nodded quickly. "We split up so we could look for you."

"I see." Aylene mumbled.

The girl then looked her friend in the eye. Littlefoot knew Aylene well enough by now to know that the look she was giving meant she was planning something.

"Littlefoot, we gotta round up the Gang," she said. "I think I know what's causing the all these accidents."

"What? How?"

Aylene held up her Time Stone, "I think this is trying to tell me something. I had a dream just now, and I think it was a clue. I can't explain how I know that, but you've gotta trust me. If there's one thing I know about this stone, it's that if it reacts to weird phenomenon, then we better pay attention to it."

Littlefoot paused for a second before nodding in agreement. He didn't have to say a single word. He turned his side to Aylene, and she leapt onto his back. The Apatosaurus ran across the Valley, feeling the same urgency as his rider.

They had to find the others and soon. Neither one could express it in words, but something was telling them that time was running out.

They had to take action, before it was too late.


	11. Chapter 10: Stone Compass

**Stone Compass**

Littlefoot ran as fast as his legs could carry him, while Aylene held onto his back with all the strength she had. All around them, the grown-up dinosaurs were starting to gather up the damaged plants and put them in piles. The two had to dodged around and weave through the work areas.

The only thing they could think of was finding the rest of the Gang and devising a plan.

However, they would soon have something else on their mind.

"Mighty strange how things have been happening lately," said a large Ankylosaurus. "Take this storm for instance."

"We've had whirling winds before," a female Maiasaura replied.

"Yes, but," the club-tailed dinosaur lowered his voice suspiciously, "it seems to me that we've had more than our fair share of misfortune since two certain strangers came to Valley."

At the sentence, Littlefoot jolted and came to a sudden halt. Aylene almost flew off his back, but she had tightened her grip when she heard what the Ankylosaurus said. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth dry.

"Now that you mention it," the Maiasaura said, "we never had disasters until they came up. But surely, just the arrival of a long-neck and human couldn't possibly…"

"I agree with club-tail here!" shouted a nearby Corythosausus, who had been listening nearby. "Life was good in this Valley just fine! Then they show up, and everything falls apart!"

This caused an uproar among the others nearby.

"That's right!"

"Our luck has turned!"

"It's the strangers' fault!"

"They're bad luck!"

Littlefoot could hardly believe his ears.

They were talking about Doc and Elaine!

How could they say such horrible things about those two?!

"HOW DARE YOU!"

Littlefoot jumped at the sudden scream from behind him. He turned around in time to see Aylene get off his back and storm over to the group of dinosaurs. They snapped their attention to the small human storming towards them. Her blue eyes were blazing with anger, her fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles were white, and her stride was with purpose. In a few seconds, she stood in front of them, completely immovable.

She might have been small, but the dinosaurs seemed to feel a powerful aura coming from her. One that was fueled by offense.

"THAT'S MY GRANDMA YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Aylene yelled. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY SHE BROUGHT BAD LUCK!"

"Now, look Aylene—" the Ankylosaurus started, but Aylene cut his sentence off like a knife.

"THEY'RE NOT TO BLAME! DON'T YOU DARE SAY THEY'RE GUILTY!"

"Aylene, calm down!" said a voice beside her.

Aylene turned her head sharply over to her right. Littlefoot was standing next to her with a concerned expression. That was enough to make calm her ire just a bit. She released the tension in her arms. But her fists still remained tight.

As soon as he saw his friend calm down a little, Littlefoot turned back to the gossiping dinosaurs with a glare.

"She's right, though!" he said to them sternly. "Doc saved my life twice! He's a real hero! And Elaine is kind and caring! She saved me, too! There's no way they would bring bad luck with them!"

"Well," the Anklyosaurus said unsurely, "you have no way of knowing that. They might have been cursed with…"

The club-tailed's voice trailed off when he looked at Aylene again. Her face had contorted into rage, even more than she had shown before, and she seemed to swell with fury. She looked like she wanted to vaporize the large dinosaur with just her stare.

Littlefoot saw it, too. He soon became more worried about what Aylene would do next. He had seen her when she was mad before, and he knew all the signs leading up to her unleashing her fury. At this point, she looked like she was going to lash out. He understood why, of course. As much as he was disgusted by the horrible rumors the grown-ups were saying, he knew Aylene was feeling it worse than he was. They were insulting her grandmother. How could she not take that personally?

But now was not the time for a fight. Littlefoot was at least aware of that fact. He had to do something.

"Aylene, let's just go," he said as commandingly as he could. "We gotta find the others, remember?"

Aylene clenched and scowled deeper for a moment before abruptly turning away and walking off. Littlefoot immediately ran after her.

"You okay?" he asked as soon as he caught up.

Aylene grunted.

"Don't listen to them, Aylene," Littlefoot said. "We know that Doc and your grandma are innocent."

"Yeah, but that's just it." Aylene replied, frustrated. "We do, but they don't. And if they spread this rumor around, then who knows what might happen. But I bet it won't end well. They might end up chasing Doc away, and Grandma won't be able to come back to this world."

Littlefoot fell silent, suddenly feeling horrified. That thought had never occurred to him until Aylene voiced it.

"I'm not going to let my Grandma suffer because of a superstition!" Aylene went on, her voice rising in force. "I'm gonna clear her name, no matter what! And Doc's, too!"

Littlefoot narrowed his eyes and nodded in agreement.

At the same time, a familiar voice suddenly called out.

"AYLENE!"

Aylene and Littlefoot stopped and turned in the direction the voice came from. The human girl's face lit up when she saw her grandmother hurrying over a nearby hill. Following close behind her was Doc.

"GRANDMA!"

Aylene sprinted towards Elaine with Littlefoot running after her. As soon as she reached her, Aylene wrapped her arms around her grandmother, and her grandmother embraced her tightly.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Elaine whispered with relief. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine, Grandma," Aylene replied. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm alright, dear. And don't you worry, your brother and friends are, too."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just glad everyone's alright."

As the two humans parted, Doc lowered his head down to their level. His expression was as stoic as usual, but his eyes were kept darting back and forth between Littlefoot and Aylene.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked. "You both look distressed."

Aylene paused. She frowned as she glanced down at the ground for a moment. She turned back to Littlefoot, who was mirroring her expression.

"Grandma," she said, facing her grandmother, "we heard some of the dinosaurs talking. I think you should know that they are starting to blame you and Doc for all of the stuff that is going on."

Elaine stared at her granddaughter. She took a deep breath and sighed heavily.

"I'm not surprised," she said calmly. "It wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened."

"You mean you guys have been blamed for accidents before?" Littlefoot asked, surprised.

"Not really, but we've seen it happen to others before," Doc said dryly. "When dinosaurs get scared of things they can't explain, they still try to. Unfortunately, that often leads them to make irrational conclusions. Especially in a world where we understand very little of it. As a result, they put the blame on someone, rather than something. I've seen what paranoia and fear can do. It never ends well."

Aylene swallowed hard. Littlefoot scuffed the ground with his paw uncomfortably.

"So…what did you do?" the little Apatosaurus asked.

"Well, if there was a problem, we tried to fix it," Doc replied. "If we couldn't, then we would just have to move on."

"But that's the same as giving up, isn't it?!" Aylene interjected. "You can't just give up!"

Elaine place a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Aylene, you must know that there are times when you need to walk away," she said wisely. "I know you believe in never giving up and see things through to the end. I believe in that as well. However, you also need to learn when it's okay to walk away from things, no matter how painful that might be. The sad truth is that you can't fix everything on your own. There is only so much a single person can do. You have to know when you can fix something, and when to move on."

Aylene opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. She shrunk back as her grandmother's words started to sink in.

It made sense to her, but it didn't feel right.

"Now come, we need to help clean up the valley," Elaine said. "We'll worry about this later. For now, we should just pitch in. You should also find your brother, my dear. I'm sure he's worried about you."

"Yeah, I know," Aylene mumbled.

"It'll be alright, Aylene. Trust me."

Aylene could only nod slowly.

Elaine gave a small, sad smile before turning to leave. Doc looked down at the young girl for a second before turning away and following his human friend.

For a few minutes, Aylene just stood where she was, her head hung down, and her hands limp with defeat.

"Are you okay, Aylene?" Littlefoot asked caringly.

Aylene shook her head.

"I just don't believe in giving up," she said sadly. "I mean, we never gave up in the past, even when the odds were stacked against us. But we always worked together and everything turned out fine. Same with Grandma and Doc. You heard their stories. They always kept going even when times were tough. They didn't give up, even when they faced Sharptooth. And neither did we. It's how we've gotten this far, right?"

"You do make a point, Aylene," the long-neck replied thoughtfully. "And I do agree with you. We've always kept going, no matter what. And I think we can change the luck of the valley if we—!

Suddenly, the Time Stone flashed a brilliant light, making both Aylene and Littlefoot shielded their eyes. A second later, the ground beneath them shook again. They staggered and swayed to try and regain their balance. Then, just as soon as it came, the tremor was gone.

At the same time, a creaking noise came from above the human and dinosaur. They turned in time to see a large tree that had been spared by the tornados snap off at the middle.

And the top was heading right towards them!

Aylene and Littlefoot screamed at that same time before leaping out of the way. The treetop fell to the ground, just barely missing Littlefoot's tail and Aylene's heel. Aylene tumbled across the ground while Littlefoot stumbled to a halt. They both stared in fright at the spot they had been standing just seconds ago.

They were almost crushed!

"Holy cow!" Aylene exclaimed. "That was close!"

"These earthquakes are getting worse!" Littlefoot said in the same tone. "And they're happening more often!"

As soon as Littlefoot spoke those words, and horrible thought crept into the front of Aylene's mind. It was so horrible that she couldn't help but voice in a low whisper.

"If this keeps up, the valley is doomed. And worse…"

Aylene slowly sat up. She had never felt so afraid before. Not even when she had fought Sharptooth, or any other predatory animal in this world. She could run or fight against those creatures. But this was something entirely different.

They were fighting against nature. A force that could not be fought by swords or arrows.

How could they fight against nature?

"Aylene, the Time Stone!" Littlefoot suddenly shouted.

Aylene blinked as she came out of her trance. She looked down at her necklace.

The Time Stone was still glowing! The light was fading in and out in rhythmic beat, but it was still glowing!

Aylene's eyes narrowed. Every time one of these disasters had happened, her Time Stone reacted violently. That reaction was lingering in its pulsating light.

"Littlefoot, remember what I said about the Stone trying to tell us something?" Aylene asked slowly.

"Yeah," Littlefoot said.

"I think its warning us off the disasters coming," Aylene theorized. "And if that's true, then it might help us find where the source of the disasters is coming from. I know it's a long shot, but it's our only shot."

Littlefoot paused for a moment. Then, he nodded in agreement. He had always known the Time Stone was mysterious and magical. If it was reacting to all of these events of bad luck, then he believed that it could help them find a way to help them stop it.

Aylene saw Littlefoot agree to her plan. She took the Time Stone in her hand and held it for a moment. She suddenly remembered what Ken had said to her that day in the coffee shop, about how the Time Stone reacts to the will of its holder. If what he said was true, then there was a chance that it could help her now. She didn't quite know what to do, but she felt a strong determination to try something.

Anything. No matter how crazy it might seem.

"Okay, Time Stone," she said to the necklace, "I don't know if you can hear me or not, but if you know what's causing all this, then please, show us the way."

The Time Stone trembled in Aylene's hand for a moment. The light became constant and bright. Then, it levitated off of the girl's hand. It floated away out in front of her, stopped by the metal neck-chain. It stayed hovering in mid-air, like it was being drawn to an invisible magnet.

Aylene and Littlefoot followed the direction the Stone was pointing. It was to northeast, and towards a mountain ridge shrouded in mist off in the distance.

"Is that where we're supposed to go?" Littlefoot said, his voice full of wonder.

"I have no doubt," Aylene replied, standing up with conviction. "C'mon, let's get going."

"But what about the others?" Littlefoot asked.

"I hate to say this, but I don't think we have much time. The more time we stay here, the more the Valley will be plagued with bad luck. I think that's what the Stone is trying to tell us. And if this keeps up, then Grandma and Doc will just keep getting blamed for everything that happens. I know she said there are times to walk away, but I know this isn't one of them. We have to act now."

Littlefoot looked uncomfortable. He then heard the sound of sliding metal and looked to see Aylene draw Fierce Loyalty.

"Besides, remember this?" she held up the sword. "We've got Fierce Loyalty and the Time Stone. We can take care of ourselves if there's trouble, just like before."

Seeing that mystical blade seemed to wash away any doubts the Apatosaurus had. His face slowly transformed into the determination he was feeling in his soul.

"Let's go. But we gotta hurry."

With that, Aylene sheathed her sword and mounted onto Littlefoot's back. Without any more hesitation, the two ran off towards the mist-covered mountains, following the light of the glowing stone compass.

There was no turning back now. All they could do was follow the Stone, hope that it would lead them to where they needed to go, and hope that they make it in time.


	12. Chapter 11: The Clock Begins to Tick

**The Clock Begins to Tick**

"AYLENE!"

"AYLENE!"

"HEY, AYLENE, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Cera, Ducky and Spike all came to a stop among a dense grove of trees that had been spared by the storm. A second later, Petrie swooped down from the sky and landed on the ground.

"Me no find her anywhere," he said with distress.

Cera groaned with frustration.

"How hard can it be to find one human?" she asked, anxious. "We've looked all over, but she's not here."

"Maybe Littlefoot or Derek have found her already," Ducky suggested. "Or maybe the Time Stone sent her back to her world. That has happened before. It has, it has."

"Well, if that's what happened, then Derek and Elaine might be stuck here for a while," Cera frowned. "Who knows how long it will be before she's able to come back."

Spike shook his head and Petrie shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, c'mon," Cera said with a deep exhale, "We should meet up with the others. Hopefully, they had much better luck than us."

As the Gang walked past a small, rocky ridge, the ground suddenly shook beneath them again. They stumbled for a second before bracing themselves against the vibrating earth. At the same time, they heard the sound of wood coming loose.

The moment all four of them turned their heads to see what it was, they were met with a pile of logs and branches quickly rolling down the slope towards them! They only had a second to scream before the pile crashed down on them!

Then, as soon as it had started, the tremor stopped.

The Gang shot their heads up out from underneath the logs and gasped for air. They were dazed and disoriented, but unharmed.

"Oh, me hate earthquakes!" Petrie whined.

Cera shook the dizziness out of her head and frowned suspiciously.

"These are becoming way too frequent," she said. "And it caught us by surprise again."

"What do you think it means?" Ducky asked, shakened.

"How should I know?" Cera replied irritably, struggling to get out from underneath a huge log. "All I know is that it's becoming annoying."

"Hey, guys! You okay?!"

The Gang immediately turned to see where the voice came from. Derek was running towards them.

"We're fine, Derek!" Cera called back. "Did you find Aylene?"

Derek came to a stop at the edge of the pile and leaned over on his hands and knees. He breathed heavily for a moment before wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"No, I haven't," he said, still a little breathless. "I was searching nearby when I heard you guys scream. I take it you haven't found her either."

"No, we haven't. No, no, no," Ducky said sadly, lifting herself out of the broken branches.

Derek let out a frustrated moan and hung his head. "Where is she?"

"Don't worry, Derek," Cera grunted, freeing herself from the pile, "I'm sure she's fine."

Derek made and ambiguous face. Half of him believed what Cera was telling him, but the other half couldn't stop worrying about his sister.

Just then, another voice cut through the silence.

"Derek! There you are!"

Derek perked up and turned to see a large Anklyosaurus coming towards him at a fast pace.

"Kosh?" he blinked, surprised. "What's wrong?"

Kosh slowed down and come to a stop in front of Derek. Now that he was closer, Derek could see a look of concern in the club-tail's eyes.

"Derek, I've been looking everywhere for you! It's your sister!"

Derek and the rest of the Gang all stiffened at the same time. The tone in the Anklyosaurus made them worried.

"Is she hurt?!" Derek asked quickly.

"No, she's fine," Kosh replied, "at least from what I could tell."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw her and Littlefoot climbing up a mountain ridge just a few minutes ago."

"What?!"

"I think it might have something to do with what some of my friends were talking about," Kosh explained, "I went to help them clean up, and they told me that they had been talking about all the stuff that has been happening to the Valley. They said that they suspected that the two newcomers to the Valley might have brought bad luck with them, and Aylene was within earshot."

"You mean my grandma and Doc?!" Derek exclaimed, tensing with righteous anger. "Why would they think that?!"

"That doesn't matter right now!" Kosh said harshly. "The point is Aylene got very upset! I tried to find her to talk to her! That's when I saw her and Littlefoot climbing up a mountain range!"

"Are you sure it was them?!" Derek was becoming more frantic with each word Kosh spoke.

"Positive!" Kosh nodded. "There's only one creature I know who has a glowing stone around their neck!"

Derek perked up at that statement.

"Wait, you mean her Time Stone?" he asked in a low voice. "You're saying it was glowing?"

"Yeah, I could see it from where I was standing," Kosh answered. "And I was pretty far away."

Derek fell silent for a moment and raised his fist to his chin. His mind raced to piece together the information he was told. As relieved as he was to hear that his sister was alive, his anxiety was replaced with confusion. The moment Kosh mentioned Aylene's Time Stone, he remembered something.

"Littlefoot mentioned something about her Stone before," he whispered, "How it reacted to the storm. If that's the case, then does that mean…It must. I'm sure of it."

"What we gonna do now?" Petrie asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Cera said. "We're going to go after them. Right, Derek?"

Derek paused for a moment before looking at Cera with conviction.

"Yeah, but we should find Grandpa Longneck and my grandma first," he said. "They need to know what's going on." Derek turned back to Anklyosaurus. "Thanks for the tip, Kosh. I owe you one."

Kosh nodded in gratitude. "Good luck to you, Derek. I hope you get to them in time."

"Well, c'mon!" Cera commanded. "Let's go!"

Derek leapt onto the back of the Triceratops as she passed him. Ducky climbed up onto Spike's back, and Petrie took to the sky.

They all set out racing toward the heart of the valley.

* * *

"AUGH!"

"HOLD ON, AYLENE!"

Aylene held onto Littlefoot's tail with both hands as he struggled to lift up onto the ridge. He and Aylene were almost at the top when the Time Stone flashed. At that moment, a sudden earthquake shook the land, and the pathway underneath them cumbled. Littlefoot was near the top, and managed to keep firm grip on the edge. However, Aylene missed her footing and slipped. Luckily, by some miracle, she reached out and grabbed ahold of Littlefoot's tail, and was now holding on for dear life with a strength she never knew she had. She swung back and forth as the tremors continued.

Then, the earthquake stopped.

Seeing their chance, two friends worked together to get up on the ridge before another earthquake decided to sneak up on them. Littlefoot lifted himself and Aylene up, while Aylene did her best to find the best footholds. They kept climbing, not even daring to look down for a single moment. With each passing moment, their trembling limbs threatened to give out on them.

At last, they hoisted themselves to safety.

Once they were up on the ledge, Littlefoot collapsed on his front, and Aylene rolled onto her back. The two of them took several deep breaths of sweet, precious air, grateful to still be alive.

"That was too close," Littlefoot panted heavily. "I'm just glad my strength held out."

"I'm glad you TAIL held out!" Aylene wheezed, shutting her eyes. "Gee whiz, this is getting ridiculous. How much time passed this one and the last one?"

"Not much," Littlefoot replied. "These quakes are getting more and more frequent. We gotta reach the source of it and fast."

Aylene took on last deep breath and sat up. She opened her eyes and looked back down at her Time Stone. It was still glowing and hovering in front of her, pointing in the same direction. She and Littlefoot looked towards the horizon. A maze of mountain ranges awaited them, and a faint fog was starting to form among the peaks.

Something dark from much further in the distance caught Aylene's attention. She narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look.

Aylene took off her bag and reached in for her monocular. She looked through it, adjusting the lens to get the clearest view. What she saw made her tense. For half a second, she forgot to breath.

Several miles away, a dark storm cloud was beginning to form. As she watched it, she realized with a cold chill that it was growing at an abnormally fast rate.

What's more, it was moving towards the Great Valley.

Just like the tornados.

It was then that Aylene noticed the light was starting to dim again. She felt the wind growing stronger. She looked to the sky and saw thin clouds were floating across the sun. She followed the path of the wind, and realized that it was coming from the direction of the storm clouds.

From the same place the Time Stone was guiding them towards.

"Let's get moving," Aylene said, her voice low and nervous.

Littlefoot simply nodded. He could feel that ominous chill, too. They didn't have much time before another disaster struck.

Aylene mounted onto his back, the two headed towards the storm cloud.

A while later, Aylene got another eerie feeling. Something in the back of her mind seemed to be screaming at her that she had forgotten something important. She was worried about the storm, but that wasn't what was nagging at her. It was something else. Something she had forgotten but was so desperately trying to remember.

But what could it be? What? Aylene couldn't recall anything.

Eventually, she shook the feeling away. She had to focus on getting to where the storm cloud was, and figure out what to do once she and Littlefoot got there.

However, a tiny sliver of that feeling stuck with her, refusing to leave.


	13. Chapter 12: Gathering

**Gathering**

 _Back in the Great Valley…_

Elaine looked around at the other dinosaurs nearby. She could already tell that the rumor Aylene had warned her about had gotten around. Even when she or Doc had their backs turned, she could feel the suspicious stares of the Great Valley residents. When she would look at them, they quickly looked away, afraid to meet her eyes.

All Elaine could do was sigh and keep working. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened to her and Doc. They had faced the reactions of superstition before. There wasn't much she could do now.

Doc had noticed it as well. However, being the stoic Diplodocus that he was, he just ignored the stares, and focused on clearing the debris.

Grandpa Longneck and Topps were pushing a large fallen tree towards a pile they had started when they saw several dinosaurs stop working. Dinah and Dana were close to Topps's feet, trying their best to help. The elder Apatosaurus and Triceratops had become aware the other dinosaurs were looking at Doc and Elaine. Some even whispered to one another, their faces shifting between fear and distrust.

Topps gave an annoyed scowl. He, too, had heard the rumor about bad luck coming over the Valley because of the two newcomers. Whether that was true or not didn't matter to him. All he knew was that it was distracting everyone from cleaning the Valley.

"Hey, this valley isn't going to clean itself!" he shouted.

The dinosaurs jumped and immediately got back to work. Dinah and Dana both shrunk back from Topps with fearful expressions before racing away and hiding behind Elaine's legs. Elaine knelt down and gently stroked their heads. Topps's face softened immediately when he realized what he had done.

"I'm sorry," he said remorsefully. "Didn't mean to shout."

Dinah and Dana just smiled and laughed, satisfied with the apology. They then went back to trying move an enormous boulder.

Elaine lowered her gaze and walked over to Topps.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Threehorn," she said.

"What are you apologizing for?" Topps replied. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I know, but it seems our arrival has disrupted the peace in the Valley."

"Don't say that," said Grandpa Longneck. "No one really blames you for these…misfortunes. Storms like this are just part of the Great Circle of Life."

Elaine sighed heavily.

"Thanks, Grandpa Longneck. But I'm not sure everyone shares that sentiment."

"Elaine's right."

Elaine looked up. Doc was walking towards them.

"We've dealt with this before," he said, "as soon as the Valley's cleared, I'll set out on my travels again."

"Now there's no need for that," Grandpa Longneck replied.

"I'd be moving on anyway," Doc shrugged. "Now's as good a time as any. No need to cause trouble."

Doc turned to Elaine. Her face showed both sadness and understanding. He lowered his head to her level and she rested her hand on his snout.

"I'm glad I got to see you again," he said. "And to meet your grandchildren."

"Thank you," Elaine nodded. "I'm glad you got the chance to meet them. And that we got to meet again, even if it is one last time."

At that moment, the shouting voices of young children disturbed the somber atmosphere.

"GRANDPA LONGNECK!"

"DADDY!"

"GRANDMA!"

Elaine, Doc, Grandpa Longneck, and Topps all turned in the direction of the voices. The Gang came running towards them with distress on their faces.

"What is it, children?" Grandpa Longneck asked, concerned. "Where are Littlefoot and Aylene?"

"That's just it!" Derek said urgently. "I think they went to find what is causing these disasters! At least that's what Kosh said!"

"What are you talking about?" Topps asked.

"Kosh told us that he saw Aylene and Littlefoot climbing up a mountain ridge, and that Aylene's stone was glowing I think they're trying to find the source of the earthquakes!"

"Are you sure, Derek?" Elaine said.

Derek nodded.

"Which way were they heading?" Grandpa Longneck asked.

Derek was about to answer, but then fell deadly silent. All the color drained from his face. He was in so much of a rush that he had forgotten to ask Kosh where had seen Littlefoot and Aylene, or which direction they were going.

He looked back at Cera and the others. They had come to the same realization that he had, and all of them became horror-struck.

But before the fear could set in, Doc's ancient voice broke through.

"I think I know."

The Diplodocus had raised his head and turned to the northwest. Beyond the mountain ridge, dark clouds were creeping across the sky. Faster than any normal storm, and what Doc could see, stronger than the previous one.

"That's the same direction the other storm came from," Doc said in a low voice.

"Are you sure?" Grandpa Longneck asked.

"Positive. And if Aylene's Time Stone is in involved, then my guess is that it's leading her and Littlefoot to where they need to go."

Then Doc's face changed. To everyone else, it was just a look of concern. But Elaine had seen that look before to know it was much more than just concern.

It was worry.

"What is it, Doc? What's wrong?"

"That's the path I took to get here," he whispered.

"Yeah, so what?" Cera asked.

"We have to get moving," Doc commanded. "On my way here, I passed a pair of predators who were fighting for territory."

"P-Predators?" Petrie squeaked with fear.

"Predators!" Derek jerked up in alarm. "Something Aylene and Littlefoot don't know anything about!"

"Let's get going!" Elaine ordered. "We haven't a moment to lose!"

Doc lowered his head down to Elaine again. She climbed up onto him. As he raised his head, she slid down his long neck to his back.

"Topps, please help us!" Derek begged the Triceratops. "We could really use your horns!"

"Very well," Topps replied.

"We're coming, too!" Cera replied.

"No, Cera," Topps replied sternly. "You and the other young ones must stay here."

"Please, Dad. Littlefoot and Aylene are our friends and they need our help. I promise we won't be in the way."

Topps and Cera held each other's gaze for a long time. As intimidating as Topps was, Cera determination and will to rescue her friends was shining in her eyes so strongly that even her father could see it. There was no way he would talk her out of coming.

Finally, he sighed and nodded.

"Okay, but if there's any danger, then I want you and the other children to run as fast as you can. Understood?"

"Yes!" Cera replied.

"Dinah, Dana come!" Dinah spoke up.

"Ussie go go!" Dana followed up.

"Oh no, you two are staying here," Topps ordered. "It's too dangerous for you."

"C'mon, we gotta go!" Derek urged impatiently.

"Right, let's go!" Grandpa Longneck commanded.

The rescue herd set off at a quick pace toward the approaching storm. Doc led the way while Grandpa Longneck, Topps, and the Gang followed close behind.

Dinah and Dana both turned to each other. Through some shared link of their twin bond, they silently agreed to the idea that was brewing in each other's minds. All it took was one exchange of excited smiles before setting out after the others.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

The sunlight continued to dim as Littlefoot and Aylene walked on. It made the Time Stone seem to grow brighter. The wind was starting to pick up, and the pressure was changing around them. It was all slow and subtle, but even Aylene's human senses could tell something was amiss. Littlefoot could definitely sense it, even better than Aylene could. It made him nervous, but he still pressed on.

As time went on, the two began to feel something strange. Neither one knew how to explain it, but it was as part of the world had slipped out of place. It was liking a delicate balance had been shifted, and something that wasn't meant to change was changing too quickly.

The more they walked, the more ominous that feeling became.

Eventually, the two friends came to the edge of a deep canyon. They both looked down to see the depth of it, and Aylene's senses swam with irrational fear. The canyon was a straight shot down, and several meters wide. The faint sound of a small river could be heard between the towering walls.

Aylene sat up and shook away the dizziness. She then blinked.

She had seen this canyon before, she was sure of it.

A memory flashed in her mind like lightning.

That dream she had after the storm! She had seen this canyon!

That must mean they were going the right way!

But how would they get across?

"What now?" Littlefoot asked, breaking Aylene's trance.

"Well," Aylene said slowly, "we got to find some way across. I have no doubt that our destination is on the other."

"Yeah, but do we do that?"

"Good question."

Aylene and Littlefoot both looked around. They could try to use a fallen log, but with the distance they would have to cover, they would not be able to find one they could lift or roll. They could travel down into the canyon and up the other side, but that would take too long. Judging by the gathering clouds, time was something they could not afford to waste.

Then, Littlefoot saw it. Several feet away from them were massive pillars of rock that rose up out of the canyon like stepping-stones. While their tallness varied by a few inches, they were very close to the height of the cliff they were standing on. Even better, they were wide and flat at the top.

"We can use those."

Aylene looked at the pillars and swallowed hard. Going across those would mean going across a great big pit that dropped down into shadows. She had absolutely no confidence she would be able to focus her jumps. If they were surrounded by water, she would not be as nervous. However, with nothing but air to break her fall, she trembled at the thought of slipping.

Littlefoot could feel Aylene shiver, but he knew that she knew they had no other choice.

"Just hang on tight and I'll get us across, okay?"

"Okay," Aylene replied uneasily.

As Littlefoot prepared himself to jump, Aylene flattened herself on his back and held on to the base of his neck. She inhaled sharply as he leapt over the chasm and onto the first pillar. She refused to scream. She didn't even dare close her eyes. Despite feeling faint from the thought of how high up they were, she felt a little more at ease to be able to see where they were rather than being blind to it.

Using his tail, Littlefoot found his balance. He looked ahead at the next pillar: it was a little higher than the first. He tensed his muscles and jumped. He made the landing. He looked at the next one ahead and jumped. He continued with quickness and precision. It wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be, but he still kept his wits about him.

As he got to the last one, the Time Stone suddenly flashed.

"LITTLEFOOT!"

As soon as Aylene screamed, the ground beneath her and Littlefoot shook again!

Littlefoot nearly lost his balance on the pillar. But before he could slip and plummet into the abyss below, he made a remarkable leap of faith. His forepaws caught the edge, and his feet landed on steady footholds. Aylene held onto him for dear life, screaming and shrieking like a banshee. The earthquake shook the them to their cores, and threatened to loosen the rock they were holding onto.

From behind them, the rock pillars crumbled and broke at the weakest cracks! They fell into the canyon with a deafening crash!

Then, earthquake stopped.

Littlefoot wasted no time. He hoisted himself and Aylene up with all the strength he could muster. As soon as they were safely on the edge, he collapsed. The two took a moment to recover. They then looked back, and their hearts sank like millstones.

Their pathway was gone!

Neither one of them spoke. They just exchanged looks of concern.

The human and long-neck remained where they were for a minute or two more. Their limbs were shaking so bad they couldn't so much as stand. All they could do was collect their wits and calm their nerves.

As soon as they could find the strength to move, they resumed their journey. They were not far now. They could feel it.

They were almost to the source of bad luck.


End file.
